Reading Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (Adopted)
by Mortiferum
Summary: Gregor, Ares, Boots, Lizzie, Howard, Aurora, Temp, Luxa, Twitchtip, Ripred, and Grace (Gregor's mom) all read the third book in the series. They are transported by two other people to read with them, who could they be? Read to find out! *Adopted from allfandomsunite; I don't own the first 12 chapters* ***NOT ABLE TO BE CONTINUED! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADOPT IT, PLEASE PM ME!***
1. Chapter 1

**Again, I adopted another story off of someone, this time allfandomsunite.**

**Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own anything you recognize.**

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**Gregors POV**

I was walking down the palace halls, after the council, I was exhausted. When I was about to step into the room, a bright light surrounded me and I was falling.

**Ares' POV**

I was walking with Howard to Dr. Neevee's lab, when a bright light surrounded us.

**Luxa's POV**

We were about to be surrounded by the Gnawers when a bright light surrounded me, Aurora, Boots, Temp, and Twitchtip.

**Lizzie's POV**

Boots and Gregor had been gone for a long time. I was in the kitchen with mom, when all of a sudden a bright light surrounded us.

**Ripred's POV**

I was in my cave, trying to get away from 'The Bane' or as I like to call him Pearlpelt. I had just gone into another section of the cave, when a bright light surrounded me.

**Gregors POV**

I could hear screaming and I opened my eyes and saw Luxa, Boots, Twitchtip, Aurora and Temp.

"You're alive!" I shouted as relief flooded through me.

"Not for long." Luxa was pointing to the fast approaching ground. When we were about 10 Ft the air supported us, like the currents. Then we all floated gently down onto some couches. Across from us on a couch were two people, a boy and a girl. The girl had her head on a pillow which was on the boy's lap. The girl looked remarkably like Luxa, except maybe 6 or 7 years older.

"Well, glad you could make it." The boy said and foe some reason, the way he talked reminded it of me, except deeper.

"Who are you? Why have you brought us?!" Luxa shouted.

The girl shot up and punched blindly out, which unfortunately for the boy, happened to be his nose.

"Owwww!"

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" Are you ok?" Wow! She even sounded like Luxa.

"Yeah, yea, just look who's here."

She turned toward us and my breath caught in my throat. She was beautiful with violet eyes and . . . what am I thinking! I shake my head and realize there's a crown on her head, so she's the queen.

"Finally we have been waiting for ages."

"Umm, uhh." This was the first time I had ever seen Luxa lost for words.

"Ahh, yes or names, well my name is . . . actually do you think we should tell them?" the question was directed to the boy who looked up at all of us.

"Yes, they're just begging to know except for Ripred and Twitchtip who already seem to know."

We all turned to see Twitchtip sniffing the air and looking at them quizzically, while Ripred was just staring at them with open mouths. Which I had to admit was kind of ridiculous.

The girl smirked, "Fine, my name is . . . Queen Luxa." She finished with a smile to princess Luxa, who was staring at her opened mouth.

"B-but does t-that mean y-you're . . ."

"18, yes." Wow, did not see that coming.

"Now, it's your turn, come on I'll help you clean your nose." Queen Luxa bent down and got a first aid kit. She looked at Howard, who was still staring at her in amazement.

"Howard, can you help me, since I am not a doctor in training." She asked.

"Uh, s-s-sure." He went forward and helped the boy with his nose.

"Ahh, thanks Howard, my nose feels much better." He nodded to Howard who sat back down on a couch.

"And as for you, I am so going to be getting payback." He said to Queen Luxa, who I thought was going to be mad, but looked a little frightened and sad.

"But I said I was sorry and does it hurt?" You could practically hear the sadness in her voice. I looked over at Luxa to see how she was taking it, she was just sitting there stunned as was everybody else.

The older boy sighed, "It's alright and I won't get payback on you ok?"

Her face brightened instantly, "Thanks!"

"Ok and on with names, my name is k- cough I mean Gregor the warrior." When he had started Queen Luxa had shook her head, while everybody probably comparing me to him. I mean I had some muscle and how was I able to talk to the queen like that? My mom seemed shocked by this.

"Gregor is that really you?"

"Yes, this is what I will look like when I am 18. Well now that you know our names, we want some of you to introduce yours." Well, he was an excited one.

"I is Boots! I is Boots!" She was jumping up and down to get their attention.

"Aww, I forgot how cute Boots was when she was five." Queen Luxa said.

"What so Boots and I are all grown up?" Lizzie asked.

"Yes you're about 16 or 17, which is a real pain."

"Hey!"

"And Boots is about 10 or 11." Older me finished with a frown.

"We brought Lizzie?" Queen Luxa looked at Lizzie and frowned.

"You're right, why is she here? Could we have miscounted or could she have been in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Hey!" Lizzie said.

"No, no we just mean you were supposed to come later." Older me sighed, "Eh, anyone else wanna introduce?"

"I be, Temp, I be."

"Good to see you Temp" Queen Luxa said. Then something astonishing happened, older me talked to Temp in CRAWLER! To say everybody was surprised was an exaggeration.

"How did you learn that? And can you speak anything else?" Ares asked. Older me was saddened, but immediately smiled afterwards.

"Yes I learned from Ha-" His mouth had been stopped.

"They don't know yet." Queen Luxa hissed at him-me.

"Mpth mfh." She let go. "Thank you, now sorry, but I can't tell you who taught us. But the answer to the other one is yes, I can speak crawler, spinner, flier, nibbler, gnawer and I am learning hisser and stinger. Same goes for Luxa.' He finished with a cocky grin. We all stared opened mouthed at him.

"Well, Well looks like you finally made something of your life." Ripred said.

"Yeah and I owe it all to you." He started coughing. *cough and a dungeon cough cough*

"Ah Twitchtip, how good to see you." He looked saddened, Queen Luxa put a hand on his shoulder, he smiled at her gratefully.

"Alright let's get on with this reading." Older me said, like I said before, excited.

"Wait, reading?" Aurora asked.

"Yes and more specifically your future and our past." Everybody gasped.

"Wait, you lived through the war?" I asked.

"Yeah," he seemed to say sadly and everyone was nervous, wondering what the casualties must have been.

"Anyways," Queen Luxa said, "The book we will read is called 'Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods.' This, ironically, is in Gregors point of view." Any idiot could practically hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"Awww, you're going to hear my thoughts?"

"Yep."

"Great, that's just great." He said sarcastically.

"Ok anyway Gregor, young Gregor, why don't you read first?"

"Sure." I grabbed the book.

"**Part 1: The Plague, Chapter 1." **

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**Ok, I forgot at the top to say thanks to allfandomsunite for letting me adopt his/her story. The first twelve chapters do not belong to me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, chapter two, which also belongs to allfandomsunite.**

**Disclaimer: You know what, this disclaimer just goes to the rest of the story because these are really boring. I DO NOT own ANYTHING you recognize. :(**

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I was kind of excited and a little mad cause they were going to be reading my thoughts! And now Luxa will see how much I care and maybe, just maybe we will get our younger selves together sooner.

"Wait before you start, where were you?" My Luxa said, God, She was just so beautiful, I could stare at her all day, but I can't right now, for 1 my mom is here and 2 my younger self is here and 3 everybody else is here.

"We were about to be surrounded by gnawers." Luxa said. Both of us, I and my Luxa nodded, we had just gotten them out in time.

"I was about to go to sleep." Younger me said.

"I was with Ares about to get him medicine from Dr. Neevee." Howard said. My Luxa and I looked at each other; we had gotten them in the nick of time, just before Ares got the plague.

"Oh, Ares here is some medicine." I gave it to Howard. I still sometimes have nightmares about that day. Luxa put a hand on my shoulder, probably knowing what I was thinking of.

"We were in the kitchen." My mom said, she was probably still in shock about me.

"I was having a wonderful buffet." Ripred said sarcastically, "What do you think I was doing?" I laughed; it felt good to laugh, since sometimes I still thought about all those lives lost in the war. We were getting ready to read, my Luxa put her feet on my lap. I mean I didn't mind, it's just that it was nice to have her head on my lap instead. Our younger selves were embarrassed by that, we just gave them a smile. Howard and my mom were giving me disapproving looks, while the bats and rats were looking amused.

**Third Person**

"Please continue Gregor." Queen Luxa said.

"**Part 1: The Plague Chapter 1**

**Gregor stared in the bathroom mirror for a minute, steeling himself.**

Everybody looked at Gregor and the Warrior strangely and amusingly, they were both blushing.

**Then slowly unrolled the scroll and held the handwritten side up to the glass. In the reflection, he read the first stanza of the poem entitled "The Prophecy of Blood."**

Queen Luxa sighed unhappily; the Warrior patted her knee friendly and smiled at her. Everybody else was wondering what happened with this prophecy.

**As usual, the lines made him feel sick to his stomach.**

**There was a knock on the door. "Boots has to go!" he heard his eight-year-old sister, Lizzie, say.**

"It's me! It's me!" Boots said jumping up and down. Everybody laughed at the sight.

**Gregor released the top of the scroll and it snapped into a roll. He quickly stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans and pulled his sweatshirt down to conceal it. He hadn't told anyone about this new prophecy yet and didn't intend to until it was absolutely necessary.**

Grace frowned at that, he was keeping secrets from the whole family.

**A few months ago, right around Christmas, he had returned home from the Underland, a dark war-torn world miles beneath New York City. It was home to giant talking rats, bats, spiders, cockroaches, and a variety of other oversized creatures. There were humans there, too – a pale-skinned, violet-eyed people who had traveled underground in the 1600s and built the stone city of Regalia. The Regalians were probably still debating whether Gregor was a traitor or a hero. On his last trip, he had refused to kill a white baby rat called the Bane.**

Everybody except Boots, Lizzie and Grace tensed up at the name.

**For many Underlanders, that was unforgivable, because they believed the Bane would one day be the cause of their total destruction.**

'_But we stopped it, thank God.' _The Warrior thought.

**The current queen of Regalia, Nerissa, was a frail teenager with disturbing visions of the future.**

Luxa sighed, she loved her cousin dearly but she will never be able to take the responsibility of the crown.

**She was the one who had slipped the scroll into Gregor's coat pocket when he was leaving. He had thought it was "The Prophecy of Bane," which he had just helped to fulfill. Instead it was this new and terrifying poem.**

Everybody in the past, who was there for the quest shivered, since the actions they did would probably start a war.

"**So you can reflect on it sometimes," Nerissa had said. Turned out she'd meant it literally – "The Prophecy of Blood" was written backward. You couldn't even make sense of it unless you had a mirror.**

"**Gregor, come on!" called Lizzie, rapping on the bathroom door again.**

**He opened the door to find Lizzie with their two-year-old, Boots. They were both bundled up in coats and hats, even though they hadn't been outside today.**

"**Need to pee!" squealed Boots, pulling her pants down around her ankles and then shuffling to the toilet.**

Everybody was laughing up to this point.

"**First get to the toilet, then pull down your pants," instructed Lizzie for the hundredth time.**

**Boots wiggled up onto the toilet seat. "I big girl now. I can go pee."**

"Yes, I big girl now." Boots agreed with her future self.

"**Good job," said Gregor, giving her a thumbs-up. Boots beamed back at him.**

"**Dad's making drop biscuits in the kitchen. The oven's on in there," said Lizzie, rubbing her hands together to warm them.**

**The apartment was freezing. The city had been clutched in record-breaking lows for the past few weeks, and the boiler that fed steam to the old heating pipes could not compete. People in the building had called the city, and called again. Nothing much happened.**

_How rude those people were, _Queen Luxa was thinking, _I had no idea Gregor was going through this._

"**Wrap it up, Boots. Time for biscuits," said Gregor.**

**She pulled about a yard of toilet paper off the roll and sort of wiped herself. You could offer to help, but she'd just say, "No, I do it myself."**

Everybody was laughing again, while Boots seemed to be agreeing with herself.

**Gregor made sure she washed and dried her hands, then reached for the lotion so he could rub some into her chapped skin. Lizzie caught his sleeve as he was about to squeeze the bottle.**

"**That's shampoo!" she said in alarm. Almost everything alarmed Lizzie these days.**

"So, let me get this straight," Ripred said, "You were going to put a bottle of shampoo on your sisters' hands?" he finished amusement in his voice.

The Warrior blushed, "Yeah," everybody started laughing, "But it was a mistake anyone could have made."

"Yeah, anyone who doesn't read the label on bottles," Surprisingly Lizzie said. This got everyone into another fit of laughter. When they were all calm enough Gregor continued.

"**Right," said Gregor, switching bottles.**

"**We have jelly, Gre-go?" asked Boots hopefully as he massaged the lotion into the backs of her hands.**

**Gregor smiled at this new pronunciation of his name. He'd been "Ge-go" for about a year, but Boots had recently added an ****_r_****.**

"Boots can you pronounce my name?" the Warrior said.

Boots nodded, "Ge-go!"

"That's good can you put an r in there?"

Boots nodded more enthusiastically, "G-r-r-r Gre-go!"

"Very good Boots!" Gregor said. Everybody was smiling at that.

"**Grape jelly," said Gregor. "I got it just for you. You hungry?"**

"**Ye-es!" said Boots, and he swung her up onto his hip.**

**A cloud of warmth enveloped him as he brought Boots into the kitchen. His dad was just pulling a tray of drop biscuits out of the oven. It was good to see him up, doing something even as simple as making his kids' breakfast.**

Grace smiled at this, glad her husband was getting better.

**More than two and a half years as a prisoner of the huge, bloodthirsty rats in the Underland had left his dad a very sick man. When Gregor returned from his second visit at Christmas, he brought back some special medicine from the Underland. It seemed to be helping. His dad's fevers were less frequent, his hands had stopped shaking, and he had regained some weight.**

Gregor, Grace, and Lizzie all sighed in relief, glad that those things were happening.

**He was a long way from well, but Gregor's secret hope was that if the medicine kept working, his dad might get to go back to his job as a high school science teacher in the fall.**

**Gregor slid Boots into the cracked, red plastic booster seat they'd had since he was a baby. She drummed her heels happily on the chair in anticipation of breakfast. It looked good, too, especially for an end-of-the-month meal. Gregor's mom got paid on the first of every month, and they were always out of money by then. But his dad served each of them two biscuits and a hardboiled egg. Boots had a cup of watery apple juice – they were trying to make last - and everyone else drank hot tea.**

Grace sighed, sad that her children had to go through that. While Luxa was horrified, Gregor went through that every day at his home? It made her upset that he did. While Queen Luxa knew about it since The Warrior had told her about his life, but it still shocked her to find out about it.

**His dad told them to start eating while he took a tray of food to their grandma. She spent a lot of time in bed even when the weather was milder, but this winter she'd rarely left it. They'd put an electric space heater in her room and she had lots of quilts on her bed. Still, whenever Gregor went in to see her, her hands were cold.**

The Warrior sighed sadly, his family was still grieving that she had died, even though it had happened years before.

"**Jel-ly, jel-ly, jel-ly," said Boots in a singsong voice.**

Boots continued the chant.

**Gregor broke open her biscuits and put a big spoonful on each. She took a huge bite of one immediately, smearing purple all over her face.**

"**Hey, eat it, don't wear it, okay?" said Gregor and Boots got a fit of the giggles. You had to laugh when Boots laughed; she had such a goofy, hiccuppy little-kid laugh, it was contagious.**

Boots started laughing and everyone couldn't help but join in, even the rats and the bats. When everyone stopped Gregor continued reading.

**Gregor and Lizzie had to hurry through breakfast so they wouldn't be late for school.**

"**Brush your teeth," reminded their dad as they rose from the table.**

"**I will, if I can get in the bathroom," said Lizzie, grinning at Gregor.**

"Why wouldn't I be able to use the bathroom?" Lizzie asked.

"Just continue reading and you'll see." Said the Warrior blushing, since he knew he was the cause.

**It was a family joke now. How much time he spent in the bathroom. There was only one bathroom in the apartment, and since Gregor had taken to locking himself in to read the prophecy, everybody had noticed. His mom kept teasing him about trying to look good for some girl at school, and he pretended she was right by doing his best to act embarrassed.**

Grace frowned, again, sad that he was keeping a prophecy from her and the family.

**The truth was, he was thinking about a girl, but she didn't go to is school. And he wasn't worried about what she thought of his hair. He was wondering if she was even alive.**

"I think we all know who this is." Ripred teased.

"Really, than whom?" Luxa asked.

"Why I think you'll find out yourself, your majesty." The last part in a mocking voice, everybody smiled at that.

**Luxa.**

"Well, looks like my guess was correct." Ripred stated, while Gregor and Luxa were blushing.

Howard was frowning, he didn't really like his cousins' and Gregor's relationship. Grace was thinking the exact same thing, except she wanted them to forget the Underland.

**She was the same age as him, eleven, and she already was the queen of Regalia.**

'_Really, I was?'_ Luxa asked herself.

**Or at least, she had been queen until a few months ago. Against the Regalian council wishes, she had secretly flown after Gregor to help him on the mission to kill the Bane. She had saved Boot's life by taking on a pack of rats in a maze and allowing his baby sister to escape on a devoted cockroach.**

"Thanks Temp," Gregor and The Warrior said at the same time, they started blushing while everybody was laughing. When everybody was done laughing, Gregor started again.

**But where was Luxa now? Wandering lost in the Dead Land? A prisoner of the rats? Dead? Or had she by some miracle made it home?**

_I wonder what's happened to me._

**And there was Luxa's bat, Aurora. And Temp, the cockroach who had run with Boots. And Twitchtip, a rat whose nose was so keen she could detect color.**

Luxa and Aurora were worried for each other, Ripred was worried for Twitchtip, and even though he didn't show it except for a twitch of his tail when she was mentioned. Gregor and Ares were worried for everybody and Howard was worried for Luxa and Aurora.

**All his friends. All missing in action. All weaving through his dreams at night and preoccupying his thoughts when he was awake.**

**Gregor had told the Underlanders to let him know what happened. They were supposed to leave him a message in the grate in his laundry room, which was the gateway to the Underland.**

Grace shook her head, probably knowing that she wouldn't allow him to go there anymore without someone.

**Why hadn't they? What was going on?**

**Not knowing about Luxa and the others . . . trying to decipher the mysterious prophecy on his own . . . the combination of these things was driving Gregor crazy. It was a huge effort to pay attention in class, to act normal around his friends, to hide his worries from his family, because any hint any hint that he was planning to return to the Underland would throw them into a panic.**

Grace was upset that he had to hide his worries and feeling from them just because they might pack up, although it was probably true. Lizzie tried comforting her mom while The Warrior kept seeing Ripred steal glances at Lizzie, he just smiled.

**He was constantly distracted, not hearing people when they spoke, forgetting things. Like now.**

"**Gregor, your backpack!" said his dad as he and Lizzie headed out the door. "Think you might need it today."**

Lizzie shook her head at that.

"**Thanks, dad." said Gregor, avoiding his father's eyes, not wanting to see the concern there.**

**He and Lizzie took the stairs down to the lobby and braced themselves before stepping out into the street. A bitter blast of wind went right through his clothes as if they weren't even there. He could see tears spilling out of Lizzie's eyes; they always watered in the wind.**

Everyone shivered involuntary.

"**Let's hustle, Liz. Least it will be warm at school," said Gregor.**

**They hurried through the streets, as fast as the icy sidewalks would let them. Fortunately, Lizzie's elementary school was only a couple of blocks away. She was small for her age, "delicate" his mom called. "One good strong wind would blow you away," his grandma would say when she hugged Lizzie. And today Gregor wondered if she might be right.**

Lizzie had been looking at her mom questioningly, when she looked at Gregor who was blushing.

"**You'll pick me up after school, right? You'll be here?" asked Lizzie at the door.**

"**Of course," said Gregor. She gave him a reproachful look. He'd forgotten twice in the last month, and she'd had to sit in the office and wait for someone to come get her. "I'll be here."**

"Greeeeat, first it was the shampoo and now it's leaving your sister at school." Ripred said sarcastically while everybody was laughing except Gregor who was blushing. When everybody had calmed down he started to read again.

**Gregor plowed back into the wind with almost a sense of relief.**

Everybody looked at him weirdly.

**Even though his teeth were chattering, at least he could have a few minutes without anybody interrupting him. Immediately, his thoughts turned to the Underland and what might be happening there now, somewhere far beneath his feet. It was just a matter before Gregor would be called back down – he knew that.**

Gregor sighed, knowing that his family wouldn't be able to deal with that kind of thing. Grace was still a little upset that he was hiding his feelings and that he still wanted to go back down, even after what id did to her family.

**That's why he spent so much time in the bathroom, studying the new prophecy, trying to understand its frightening words, desperate to prepare for his next challenge in any way he could. The Underlanders were depending on him.**

**But the Underlanders! At first, he'd made excuses for their silence, but now he was just mad. Not only was there no word about Luxa or his missing friends, Gregor also had no clue what happened to Ares, the big black bat whom he trusted above anyone in the Underland.**

Ares smiled at this while the Warrior just looked down sadly, remembering what happened.

**Ares and Gregor were bonds, sworn to protect each other to the death. The journey to track down and kill the Bane had been dreadful, but if one good thing had come of it, it was that the relationship between Gregor and Ares had become unshakable.**

Ares smiled at that glad that Gregor felt the same way as he did.

**Unfortunately, Ares was an outcast among the humans and bats. He had let his first bond, Henry; fall to his death to save Gregor's life. Even though Henry was a traitor and Ares had done the right thing, the Underlanders hated him.**

That was so true and he hated the looks people and bats always gave him.

**They also blamed the bat for not killing the Bane although, technically, that had been Gregor's job. Gregor had a bad feeling that wherever Ares was, he was suffering.**

"And I was right, but I didn't know how much," The Warrior murmured to himself. Queen Luxa heard him and gave him a sad smie.

**As he pulled open the door to his school, Gregor tried to replace thoughts of the Underland with his math assignment. Every Friday, they had a quiz first thing. Then there was half-court basketball in gym, some kind of sugar crystal experiment in science, and finally lunch. Gregor's stomach was always growling at least a full hour before he reached the cafeteria. Between the cold, trying to make the groceries stretch at home, and just growing, he was hungry all the time.**

"Well, now you won't have to worry about that." Queen Luxa joked, but he could hear the worry hidden in it.

He smiled, "Yeah."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Grace asked.

"You'll just have to find out." Was all The Warrior replied. When he wasn't going to say anymore, Gregor started reading again.

**He got free school lunch and he ate everything on his tray, even if he didn't like it. Fortunately, Friday was pizza day, and he loved pizza.**

"**Here, take mine," said his friend Angelina, plunking down her slice of pizza on his plate."I'm too nervous to eat, anyway." The school play opened that night and she had the lead.**

Gregor chuckled, only Angelina would be worried, even if everybody said she would be great.

"Hey how are Angelina and Larry?" Gregor asked.

"Oh, there, fine." The warrior said but he didn't sound sure, like as if he hadn't seen the in a while, but Gregor didn't detect that.

"Oh, that's good," he continued reading.

"**Want to run your lines again?" asked Gregor.**

**Her script was in his hand in a flash.**

"**Are you sure you don't mind? I come in right here."**

**Like he didn't know. Gregor and their friend Larry had been running lines with Angelina every day for six weeks. Usually Gregor did it, though. The cold, dry winter aggravated Larry's asthma, so reading out loud made him cough. He'd been in the hospital last week with a bad attack and was still looking kind of wiped out.**

Gregor hoped Larry was okay. The Warrior felt kind of guilty for forgetting about his human friends, _'maybe I'll visit them when we have finished reading'_

"**It doesn't matter, you won't remember a thing," said Larry, who was drawing something that looked like a fly's eyeball on his napkin. He didn't look up.**

"**Don't say that!" gasped Angelina.**

"**You'll be rotten, just like you were in that last play," said Larry.**

"**Yeah, we could barely sit through that," Gregor agreed. Angelina had been wonderful in that last play. They all knew it. She tried not to look pleased.**

"**What were you again? Some kind of bug, right?" said Gregor.**

**She had been the fairy godmother in a version of Cinderella set in the city.**

"**Can we start now?" said Angelina. "So I don't totally humiliate myself tonight?"**

**Gregor ran lines with her. He didn't mind really. It distracted him from darker thoughts.**

"**Keep your head in the Overland," he told himself. "Or you'll just make yourself nuts."**

Grace was stilled upset that Gregor was keeping these feelings all bottled up.

**And he did a pretty good job of it for the rest of the day. He got through his classes and took Lizzie home and went over to Larry's apartment.**

"Well, at least you didn't leave your sister at school." Ripred teased.

**Larry's mom ordered out Chinese food for a special treat and they went and saw the play. It was fun and Angelina was the best thing in it. When he got home, Gregor gave his sisters a pocketful of fortune cookies he'd saved from dinner. Boots had never seen fortune cookies and kept trying to eat them, paper and all.**

Everybody chuckled at her antics while Boots played on Temps back. Grace was a little scared when she had gone near Temp but when she saw the roach let Boots approach him and let her climb on her back. She let her do it but not without keeping an eye on them.

**They went to bed earlier than usual because it was just too cold to do anything else. Gregor piled not only his blankets but his coat and a couple of towels on top of him. His mom and dad came into say good night. That made him feel secure. For so many years his dad had been absent or too ill to come in. To have both parents tuck him in seemed like a real luxury.**

Gregor smiled, he had missed his dad being back to normal, it was going to be great that he will be able to do that. Luxa, however, wished she had that luxury but then remembered she hd her grandfather, Vikus.

**So he was doing all right, keeping his head in the Overland, until his dad leaned down to hug him good night and whispered in a voice his mom couldn't hear, "No mail."**

**He and his dad had worked out a system. Gregor's mom had put the laundry room off-limits last summer. You couldn't blame her. In the last few years, first her husband, then Gregor and Boots had fallen through a grate in the laundry room wall that led to the Underland. Their disappearance was agonizing. Now his mom had kept the family going both emotionally and financially through all this . . . well, Gregor couldn't say. She had been amazing.**

The Warrior and Gregor looked at their mom and smiled, they both really did think she was amazing.

**So it seemed a small enough thing to let her have her way about the laundry room.**

Grace's started frowning, '_What are those two up to?'_

**The tricky thing was . . . that made checking the grate that led to the Underworld impossible for Gregor. But his dad knew how anxious he was for news of Luxa and the others, so once a day he would make brief visit to the laundry room and see if a message had been left for his son. They didn't tell his mom; she would have just been upset.**

"I'm so sorry, mom." The Warrior said to Grace.

Grace was taken back; it felt weird for this young man to call her 'mom', but it somehow felt right.

"It's ok," she replied with a smile.

**It was different for her. She had never been to the Underland. In her mind, everyone who lived there was somehow connected to the abduction of her husband and children. But Gregor and his dad both had friends down there.**

"And Boots and Lizzie and your mom, all have friends down there." Queen Luxa mumbled under her breath, the Warrior smiled.

**So there was no mail. No word again. No answers. Gregor stared into the dark for hours, and when he finally fell asleep, his dreams were troubled.**

Gregor and the Warrior frowned, Gregor because he never really liked troubled dreams and the Warrior cause sometimes he would still have troubled dreams although they were mostly about the war.

**He woke late the following morning and had to rush to get to Mrs. Cormaci's apartment by ten. He went over every Saturday to help her out. There had been times in the fall when Gregor had felt like she was making up work for him to do because she knew his family was hurting for money. **

The Warrior nodded, even though that was true, it felt as if he hadn't really earned that money.

"We should have her join in sometime." The Warrior whispered to Queen Luxa. She nodded in agreement, she had only met Mrs. Cormaci once and it had just been brief.

**But with the weather so bad, Mrs. Cormaci actually did need his help. The cold made her joints ache and she had trouble navigating the icy sidewalks. She talked a lot about falling and breaking a hip. Gregor was glad he was really earning money now.**

**Today she had a big list of errands for him to run – the dry cleaners, the greengrocer's, the bakery, the post office, and the hardware store. As always, she fed him first. "Did you eat?" she asked. He hadn't but he didn't even have time to answer. "Never mind, in this cold you can stand eating twice." She placed a big seaming bowl of oatmeal on the table, loaded with raisins and brown sugar. She poured him orange juice and buttered several slices of toast.**

Grace was glad Mrs. Cormaci was there for Gregor.

**When he had finished, Gregor felt ready to face any weather, which was good, since it was ten below not even counting the wind-chill factor. Following the list, he ran from place to place, grateful to have to wait in lines so he had a chance to thaw out. After he had dropped his purchases on Mrs. Cormaci's kitchen table, he was rewarded with a large cup of hot chocolate. Then they both bundled back up to go to the two places where Gregor could not run her errands, the bank and the liquor store. Once they got outside, was on edge. She clung to Gregor's arm tightly as they confronted patches of ice, pedestrians half-blinded by scarves, and swerving taxicabs. They had a chance to warm up at the bank, since Mrs. Cormaci didn't trust automatic bank machines, and they had to stand in line for a teller. Then they went to the liquor store, so she could pick out a bottle of red wine for her friends Eileen's birthday. But by the time they had made their way back home, Mrs. Cormaci's fingers were so numb that she dropped the wine in the hall outside her apartment just as Gregor got the door open. **

Grace tensed and hoped that he didn't get glass in him.

**The bottle broke on the tile, and the wine splattered all over the throw rug inside the entrance.**

"**That's it, Eileen's getting candy," said Mrs. Cormaci. "I've got a nice box of chocolates creams, never been opened. Someone gave it to me for Christmas. I hope it wasn't Eileen."**

Everybody chuckled at that. _'Yes,' _Queen Luxa thought, _'I would really like to have a conversation with her.'_

**She made Gregor stand back while she cleaned up the glass, then gathered up the throw rug and handed it to him. "Come on. We better get this down to the laundry room before the stain sets."**

Grace hoped that Gregor would come up with an excuse, but since he seemed so desperate to get word from the Underland, she highly doubted he would come up with one.

**The laundry room! While she collected detergent and stain remover from the closet, Gregor tried to think of an excuse for why he couldn't accompany her. He could hardly say, "Oh, my I can't go down there because my mom is afraid a giant rat will jump out and drag me miles underground and eat me."**

Everybody was chuckling by the end of that.

"Well, when you put it like that . . ." Luxa said leaving her sentence unfinished.

**If you thought about it, there was almost no good reason a person couldn't go to the laundry room. So he went.**

Grace groaned, _'Of course he went, he really misses that place.'_

**Mrs. Cormaci sprayed the throw rug with stain remover and stuffed it into the washer. Her fingers, still stiff from the cold, fumbled as she picked the quarters from her change purse. She dropped one to the cement floor, and it rolled across the room, clanking to a stoop against the last dryer. Gregor went to retrieve it for her. As he bent down to get the coin, something caught his eye, and he bumped his head on the side of the dryer.**

**Gregor blinked, to make sure he hadn't imagined it. He hadn't. There, wedged between the frame of the grate and the wall, was a scroll.**

Gregor looked up, "Who wants to read next?"

Before anybody could speak Ripred stood up and stretched, "I say, let's eat."

The Warrior rolled his eyes, "Of course YOU would want to eat." He mumbled.

Ripred turned on him and narrowed his eyes, "What was that?"

The Warrior whistled 'innocently', "Nothing, nothing."

"Let's go and eat something." Queen Luxa said before things could get out of hand.

Everybody got up and followed her into another room.


	3. Chapter 3

**You know what, I'm just gonna skip author notes 'cause they are sometimes just a waste.**

* * *

**Third Person's POV**

Everybody followed Queen Luxa into a separate room that had a long dining table in the middle. It also had a stove, refrigerator, microwave, cupboards presumably filled with plates, cups and kitchen supplies, and many other things you would find in a kitchen.

"Ok everybody," Queen Luxa clapped her hands, "You all sit down while we make food." She said pointing to herself and The Warrior. Everybody seemed skeptical about the people who were cooking.

"What?" The Warrior asked.

Gregor spoke up, "Um, w-well, I know that I can cook b-but can . . .?"

Ripred rolled his eyes, "What he is trying to say is that, can Queen Luxa cook without setting anything on fire." Everybody held their breath, as if waiting for Queen Luxa to become angry, but she just started laughing.

"Don't worry, I can cook, Gregor taught me." The Warrior nodded in the background.

"Now, Ripred your food is in the fridge, we had that made before you came here." By the time she had said fridge, Ripred ran straight to the fridge and ripped it open. He then proceeded to grab the shrimp cocktail. He walked to the table and dunked his face in the food. Everybody was standing there watching him eat; he looked up at all of them.

"Well, aren't you going to get your food?" He smirked while The Warrior and Gregor started chuckling, while everybody sat down.

"Now, Gregor and I are going to make sandwiches and for dinner we are going to have lasagna, how does that sound?"

Everybody nodded and Queen Luxa and The Warrior got to making sandwiches. It was awkward to say the least; everybody just sat there not talking, since nobody knew what to say while you could hear sounds from the kitchen and Ripred eating.

Ripred looked up with juice dripping down his face, "Well, aren't you people the talkative bunch. I would have thought you, Gregor, would want to catch up with Miss Future-Queen. I mean at least Temp and Boots playing with each other!" He said that in a teasing tone. Gregor and Luxa looked at each other, and then looked down with blushing faces. Before anybody could say anything else, Queen Luxa and The Warrior came back with a platter of sandwiches.

"Ok, the one I'm holding is turkey and cheese sandwiches. While the one Luxa is holding is ham and cheese." They both set down platters in the middle of the table.

"Eat up."

They then both got turkey and cheese sandwiches and sat down next to each other. Everybody seemed to be hesitating on eating a sandwich.

"What's the matter, take one." The Warrior said while taking bite of his own.

Everybody took one except Ripred, who was smirking at everybody.

Everybody hesitantly took a bite of their sandwich; they then started to actually eat it. The Warrior started chucking but Queen Luxa silenced him by smacking on the chest.

Once everybody was done eating they all headed back and sat down at their spots.

"So, who is reading next?" Gregor asked.

"I will," Luxa spoke up; she took the book and started, **"Chapter 2."**

"**Are you okay over there?" asked Mrs. Cormaci as she dumped detergent into the washer.**

**"Yeah, I'm fine," said Gregor, rubbing his head. He picked up the quarter and resisted the impulse to yank the scroll out of the grate. Trying to appear like nothing had happened, he returned the coin.**

**Mrs. Cormaci stuck the quarter in the machine and started it up. "Ready to grab some lunch?" she said.**

"When is that lasagna going to be done?" Ripred asked casually.

Everybody stared at him, "Ripred, you just had lunch." Luxa told him.

He snorted, "Doesn't mean I'm full."

"It will be done in a couple of hours." The Warrior told him. Some people were still a little shocked that he was still hungry.

**There was nothing for Gregor to do but follow her to the elevator. He couldn't retrieve the scroll in front of her. She would want to know what it was, and since she was already suspicious about the stories he used to cover his family's time in the Underland, it wasn't likely he could come up with a believable lie. Shoot, he hadn't even been able to make up an excuse to avoid the laundry room!**

'_I'm glad I told her.' _The Warrior thought, _'It felt great not to lie to her.'_

**Back at the apartment, Mrs. Cormaci heated up some homemade chicken soup and ladled out big servings. Gregor ate mechanically, trying to keep up his end of the conversation, although he was only half-listening. As they were finishing off some pie, Mrs. Cormaci glanced at the clock and said, "I guess that rug's about ready to go in the dryer now."**

**"I'll do it!" Gregor sprang to his feet so quickly his chair fell over backward. He set the chair back up as casually as possible. "Sorry. I can change the rug."**

"Pretty excited for laundry, Gregor." Ripred said sarcastically. Everybody started chuckling at that.

**Mrs. Cormaci gave him an odd look. "Okay."**

**"I mean, doesn't take two of us to change a rug," said Gregor with a shrug.**

**"You're right about that." She put some quarters in his hand, watching him closely. "So, how come your family doesn't use our laundry room anymore?"**

**"What?" She'd caught him off guard.**

**"How come you and your mother walk all the way over to use that place by the butcher's?" she said. "It's the same price. I checked."**

**"Because...the washers...are...bigger there," said Gregor. Actually, they were. It was not a complete lie if it were not the whole truth.**

**Mrs. Cormaci stared at him a moment then shook her head. "Go change the rug," she said shortly.**

**The elevator had never moved so slowly. People got on, people got off, a woman held the door for what seemed like an hour while her kid ran back to their apartment to get a hat. When he finally made it to the laundry room, Gregor had to wait for some guy who had obviously not done his clothes for about a month to load up six washers.**

Everybody's face scrunched up in disgust, _'That is just disgusting everybody thought.'_

**Gregor stuck the rug in the dryer next to the grate and fussed around with it until the guy left. The moment the coast was clear, he leaned down and yanked the scroll out of the grate. He stuck it up the sleeve of his sweatshirt and walked out. Ignoring the elevator, he slipped into the stairwell and closed the door securely behind him. He went up one flight and sat on the landing. No one would disturb him here, not with the elevator working.**

**He slid the scroll out of his shirtsleeve and unrolled it with shaking hands. It read:**

_**Dear Gregor,**_

_**It is most urgent that we meet. I will be at the Stair where Ares leaves you when the Overland clock strikes four. We are at your mercy. "The Prophecy of Blood" is upon us.**_

_**Please do not fail your friends,**_

_**Vikus**_

"You do know, that could be a trap." Surprisingly Lizzie spoke up.

The Warrior shrugged, "Hey, I was desperate for contact."

Grace started getting more worried about Gregor's safety.

**Gregor read the note three times before it began to register. It was not what he had expected. It was not about Luxa and his other missing friends. It did not tell him about Ares. Instead, it was a flat-out cry for help.**

_**"The Prophecy of Blood" is upon us.**_

**"It's here," Gregor thought. His heart began to pound as a sense of dread coursed through him. "The Prophecy of Blood."**

The Warrior flinched; this one was probably one of the ones he most hated. Queen Luxa saw and positioned herself so that her feet were on the floor an she was sitting right next to him.

**He didn't really need a mirror to read it anymore, although looking at the lines sometimes helped him figure out parts. By now he knew the thing by heart. There was something in the rhythm of the words that made it get in your head and stick there, like one of those annoying songs on TV commercials. It played in his brain now, adjusting to the beat of his boots as he slowly climbed the stairs.**

_**Warmblood now a bloodborne death**_

_**Will rob your body of its breath,**_

_**Mark your skin, and seal your fate.**_

_**The Underland becomes a plate.**_

_**Turn and turn and turn again.**_

_**Y OU see the what but not the when.**_

_**Remedy and wrong entwine,**_

_**And so they form a single vine.**_

_**Bring the warrior from above**_

_**If yet his heart is swayed by love.**_

_**Bring the princess or despair,**_

_**No crawlers care without her there.**_

_**Turn and turn and turn again.**_

_**You see the what but not the when.**_

_**Remedy and wrong entwine,**_

_**And so they form a single vine.**_

_**Those whose blood runs red and hot**_

_**Must join to seek the healing spot.**_

_**In the cradle find the cure**_

_**For that which makes the blood impure.**_

_**Turn and turn and turn again.**_

_**You see the what but not the when.**_

_**Remedy and wrong entwine,**_

_**And so they form a single vine.**_

_**Gnawer, human, set aside**_

_**The hatreds that reside inside.**_

_**If the flames of war are fanned,**_

_**All warmbloods lose the Underland.**_

_**Turn and turn and turn again.**_

_**You see the what but not the when.**_

_**Remedy and wrong entwine,**_

_**And so they form a single vine.**_

Everybody was thinking of what that could mean, some of them were terrified and scared. Grace was terrified for Gregor and Boots safety. The Warrior and Queen Luxa weren't that happy, they could both agree this was one of terrible prophecies.

**Gregor had survived two other prophecies by the man who had written this one. Bartholomew of Sandwich. It was Sandwich who had led the Underlanders far beneath what was now New York City and founded the human city of Regalia. **

Lizzie was intrigued by this piece of knowledge.

**When he died he had left behind a stone room whose walls were entirely carved with prophecies, his visions of the future. And not just the humans but all the creatures in the Underland believed Sandwich had been able to see what was to come.**

**Gregor went back and forth on how he felt about Sandwich's predictions. Sometimes he hated them. Sometimes he was grateful for their guidance, although the prophecies were so cryptic they seemed to mean a lot of things at once. But within the loaded lines you could usually get the general idea of what awaited you. Like in this one...**

_**Warmblood now a bloodborne death**_

_**Will rob your body of its breath,**_

_**Mark your skin, and seal your fate.**_

_**The Underland becomes a plate.**_

**Gregor had figured out it was about some kind of disease, a deadly one, and a lot of people were going to get it. Not just people, but anything that was warmblooded. Any mammal. Down in the Underland, that could include the bats and rats...he really didn't know how many other creatures could be affected. And what was that scary line about a "plate" supposed to mean? That everybody got eaten up?**

_**Bring the warrior from above**_

_**If yet his heart is swayed by love.**_

_**Bring the princess or despair,**_

_**No crawlers care without her there.**_

**The warrior was Gregor, no use trying to kid himself about that. He didn't want to be the warrior. He hated fighting, hated that he was so good at it. But after having successfully fulfilled two prophecies as the warrior, he had stopped believing they had gotten the wrong guy.**

**Then, there was the princess...He was holding out hope that it wasn't Boots. The crawlers — that was the Underlander name for the cockroaches — called her the princess, but she wasn't a real one. Maybe the crawlers had a princess of their own to bring.**

The Warrior snorted, the crawlers basically worshipped Boots, even now.

Grace hoped that part was true.

**Other stanzas seemed to suggest that the humans and the gnawers — the rats — were going to have to band together to find the cure for the disease. Boy, they were going to love that! They'd only spent centuries trying to kill one another. And then there was Sandwich's usual prediction that if things didn't work out, there would be total destruction and everybody would end up dead.**

**Gregor had to wonder if Sandwich had ever written a cheerful prophecy. Something about peace and joy, with a big old happy ending. **

Luxa and Queen Luxa both shook their heads, they had never seen a prophecy like that.

**Probably not.**

Everybody chuckled.

**The thing that drove him craziest about "The Prophecy of Blood" was the one stanza that appeared four times. It was like Sandwich was trying to drum it into his brain.**

_**Turn and turn and turn again.**_

_**you see the what but not the when.**_

_**Remedy and wrong entwine,**_

_**And so they form a single vine.**_

The Warrior shook his head; this repeated stanza was what helped them in the end.

**What did that mean? It made absolutely no sense at all! Gregor had to talk to Vikus! Along with being Luxa's grandpa and one of the most influential people in Regalia, Vikus was one of the best interpreters of Sandwich's prophecies. If anyone could explain the passage, he could.**

Queen Luxa bowed her head, Vikus' death still got to her sometimes. The Warrior took her hand and squeezed it, they both smiled at each other. Howard looked at this interaction with narrowed eyes.

**Gregor realized he was standing on the landing of his floor, gripping the railing. He was unsure of how long he'd been there. But now he had to finish up with Mrs. Cormaci and get home.**

**If he had been gone too long, she didn't seem to notice. She gave him the usual forty bucks plus a big bowl of stew for his family. As he was leaving, she wrapped an extra scarf around his neck because, "I've got enough scarves to choke a horse." Mrs. Cormaci never let him leave empty-handed.**

Gregor smiled, good old Mrs. Cormaci.

**Back in his own apartment, Gregor got his dad alone in the kitchen as soon as he could and showed him the note from Vikus. His dad's face became grave as he read it.**

**"'The Prophecy of Blood.' Do you know what that is, Gregor?" he asked.**

**Without a word, Gregor handed his dad the scroll with the prophecy. It was crumpled and somewhat grimy from many readings.**

**"How long have you had this?" asked his dad.**

**"Since Christmas," said Gregor. "I didn't want you to worry."**

Grace shook her head, he shouldn't be hiding that from the family in the first place.

**"I will start worrying if I think you're hiding things from me," said his dad. "No more of that, okay?" Gregor nodded. His dad opened the scroll to read it and looked perplexed.**

**"It's written backward," said Gregor. "But I know it by heart." He recited the prophecy aloud.**

**"A 'bloodborne death.' Well, that doesn't sound good," said his dad.**

"**No, it sounds like a lot of people will get sick," said Gregor.**

**"Vikus seems to think they need you to go down there again. You know your mom's not going to let that happen," said his dad.**

**He knew. It was not hard to imagine his mom's horror once she heard about the prophecy. After his dad had disappeared, she'd spent endless nights sitting alone at the kitchen table. First crying. Then silent...her fingers tracing the pattern on the tablecloth. Then absolutely still. And it was probably much worse when he and Boots were gone. Could he really put her through that again? "No, I can't!" he thought. Then the images of his friends from the Underland crowded into his brain. They might die — all of them — if he did not go.**

Gregor, Lizzie and Luxa looked at Grace with sadness, Lizzie and Gregor got up to hug there mom. The Warrior looked on with happiness, his mom truly was resilient.

**"I've got to at least go hear what Vikus has to say, Dad," said Gregor, his voice choked with agitation. "I've got to at least know what's happening! I mean, I can't just tear this up and pretend it never came!"**

Queen Luxa was happy that he didn't, otherwise he never would have found her.

**"Okay, okay, son, we'll go and hear the man out. I'm just saying, don't be making him any promises you can't keep," said his dad.**

**They got Mrs. Cormaci to come over for a while, saying they were thinking of seeing a movie. She seemed to be glad for a chance to visit with his sisters and his grandma. Armed with a deck of "Go Fish" cards and a jar of popcorn, she waved Gregor and his dad toward the door. "You two go ahead. You need a little father-son time."**

**Maybe they did. But not this kind.**

Gregor chuckled, they did get some father-son time in after the whole prophecy.

**Before they left, Gregor made sure he had a good, strong flashlight. **

Ripred shook his head, he really needed to learn echolocation.

**He watched his dad slip a crowbar under his jacket. At first, Gregor thought it was for protection, but his dad whispered, "For the rock." The spot where Ares always left Gregor was at the foot of a stairway under Central Park. A stone slab covered the entrance to the stairway. In this weather, it would be frozen in place.**

**To reach Vikus by four o'clock, they had to take a cab to the park. Gregor thought the trek to the subway would be too much for his dad, anyway. As it was, he seemed exhausted by the time they took the short walk from the street to the Underland entrance among the trees.**

**In the frigid weather, Central Park was almost empty. A few visitors scurried along with their heads ducked low, their hands crammed in pockets. No one took any notice as Gregor pried the stone slab loose and slid it over to reveal the entrance.**

**"We're a few minutes early," said Gregor, peering down into the darkness.**

**"Vikus may be, too. Let's go on down. At least we'll be out of this wind," said his dad.**

Lizzie shook her head, they didn't even take the precaution that it could be a trap.

**They lowered themselves into the hole. Gregor made sure to bring the crowbar with him — the rock would probably freeze up immediately, and he didn't want to get stuck underground. He moved the slab back in place, blocking out the daylight. It was pitch-black. He clicked on his flashlight and illuminated the long flight of stairs.**

**"Ares usually drops me at the bottom," Gregor said. He started down and his dad moved slowly behind him, taking each step carefully.**

**The stairway led into a large, man-made tunnel that appeared to be deserted. The air was heavy, cold, and dank. No sounds filtered down from the park, but along the walls there was a faint scampering of tiny mouse feet.**

**When he reached the last few steps, Gregor looked back over his shoulder at his dad, who was only about halfway down. "Take your time. He's not here yet."**

**The words had barely left his mouth when a sharp blow landed on his wrist and Gregor felt the flashlight fly out of his hand. He turned his head in time to glimpse a large, furry form leaping at him from the shadows.**

**The rat had been waiting for him.**

Grace was terrified for her husband and son's life. Ripred looked at The Warrior to see him look down in embarrassment. He smirked; he had a good idea about who the rat was.

* * *

**Ok, I know I'm disregarding the top AN, but if you have already read allfandomsunite's whole story that they already wrote and I'm just reposting till I get to the part he/she stopped, please PM me if you want any specific characters to come in, like Ripred or Boots. ASIOS!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Third person POV**

Everybody was shaken except for Ripred, Twitchtip, The Warrior and Boots, who had no idea what was going on.

Luxa tossed the book to Howard, who glared at her but caught the book and started reading, **"Chapter 3,"**

**Gregor swung the crowbar, but the rat caught it in its teeth and yanked him forward. He was airborne for a moment before he slammed onto his stomach in the tunnel. The crowbar clattered into the dark as his hands barely kept his face from smacking into the cold cement floor.**

Grace was terrified now; this is why she couldn't let her family go back to the Underland.

**"Gregor!" He could hear his father's anguished cry as the rat pinned him to the ground with its chest. Hot breath hit his cheek. He tried to swing backward but he was helpless.**

"Pitiful. Just pitiful," Ripred murmured to himself.

**"Pitiful. Just pitiful," a familiar voice hissed in his ear.**

Ripred smiled at the similarities, seems he didn't change that much in the future. While everybody was confused, who could it be? Although Gregor glanced at Ripred.

**Gregor felt a wave of relief that was immediately followed by annoyance. "Get off me, man!"**

**The rat simply shifted into a more comfortable position. "You see, the second you lose your light, you're as good as dead."**

Ripred chuckled, he was going to have fun messing with Gregor in the future.

**The beam of the flashlight hit them. Gregor squinted and saw his dad approaching them with a chunk of concrete in one hand.**

**"Let him go!" shouted his father, lifting the concrete.**

**"It's okay, Dad! It's just Ripred!" Gregor squirmed to free himself but the rat weighed a ton. "He's a friend," he added to reassure his dad, although calling Ripred a "friend" was something of a stretch.**

Ripred feigned being hurt and put a claw over his heart, "I'm hurt Gregor, you don't think of me as a friend."

Everybody rolled their eyes while The Warrior actually walked towards Ripred with a glint in his eyes, "Of course you're my friend Ripred," He then proceeded to hug him.

Everyone was shocked, even Twitchtip who just backed away from Ripred. After a second The Warrior let go of Ripred and walked back toward Queen Luxa, he smirked as he sat down since he knew, he even surprised Ripred. Everybody was quiet for a few seconds then Howard cleared his throat and started reading again, though he kept glancing at The Warrior and started expecting him to start hugging peope.

**"Ripred?" said his dad. "Ripred?" His chest was heaving up and down, his eyes wild as he tried to make sense of the name.**

**"Yes, I try and give your boy survival tips but he just doesn't pay attention." Ripred rose and easily flipped Gregor over with his paw. The rat's scarred face was accusing. "You haven't been practicing your echolocation, have you?"**

"Probably not," Ripred looked at Gregor since knew that The Warrior obviously learned it.

Grace was confused, _'Gregor's been learning echolocation?"_

**"I have, too!" shot back Gregor. "I practice with my sister."**

Lizzie was curious, she helped him practice echolocation?

**This was true, although Gregor omitted saying that he mainly did it because Lizzie made him. **

'_Of course,' _Lizzie thought while rolling her eyes, _'I made him do it.'_

**She was extremely conscientious about homework. When she found out that Ripred had told Gregor to practice his echolocation, she took it very seriously. At least three times a week she'd drag him off somewhere in the building — the hallway, the stairwell, the lobby — and blindfold him. Then he'd have to stand there making a clicking sound with his tongue, trying to find her. The sound of his click was supposed to bounce off her, and somehow he was supposed to know where she was standing. But despite her best efforts, Gregor's echolocation skills weren't improving much.**

Ripred snorted, but was surprised that Lizzie helped; he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.

Grace was upset again, _'Another secret, piled up on top of each other.'_

**Now, with Ripred getting on his case, Gregor felt defensive. "Look, I told you, that echolocation stuff doesn't work for me. Where's Vikus, anyway?"**

**"He's not coming," said Ripred.**

"Told you it could be a trap." Lizzie murmured.

**"But he wrote me about 'The Prophecy of Blood.' I thought he was meeting us," said Gregor.**

**"And I thought you'd be alone," said Ripred. He sat back on his haunches and looked at Gregor's father. "Do you remember me?"**

**His dad was still clutching the piece of concrete, but it was down by his side. He stared at Ripred as if he were trying to remember someone from a dream. A long dream filled with hunger and loneliness and fear and the taunting of voices in the dark. Voices of rats. Like the one who sat before him. His brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of the jumble in his head. "You brought me food. Down in the rat pit...you brought me food sometimes."**

Grace was surprised, this rat showed her husband compassion.

**"That's right," said Ripred. "And did anyone here bring me food? I'm famished."**

**Ripred did look thinner than usual. His belly had shrunk down some and the bones in his face were more pronounced.**

Ripred grimaced, he was not looking forward to that.

**Gregor hadn't even planned to see Ripred, let alone feed him. But his hands automatically dug in his jacket pockets. His fingers found a stray fortune cookie from the night before and he pulled it out. "Here," he said.**

"Wow, all that for little old me? You shouldn't have." He said mockingly.

**Ripred reacted with exaggerated amazement. "Oh, heavens, is this whole thing for me?"**

Everyone was a little surprised at the similarities.

**"Look, I didn't even know —" Gregor began.**

**"No, please. Don't apologize." Ripred's tongue darted out and flicked the cookie into his mouth. "Oh, yes, oh, my word," he raved as he chewed and swallowed. "I'm absolutely stuffed!"**

The Warrior actually started chuckling at this.

"**How come you're so hungry?" asked Gregor.**

**"Well, what with Solovet bent on starving the rats out —" said Ripred. Gregor vaguely remembered Ripred bringing this up at dinner in Regalia once. The humans had taken one of the rats' rivers or something.**

Luxa had been thinking during the reading, she had been listening but she had been thinking. Where was she? Was she in the forest, where she had been picked up? When she heard Solovet's name she snapped out of her thinking.

**"And having to feed that gluttonous baby you dumped on me —" said Ripred.**

**"The Bane?" interrupted Gregor. "How is he?"**

Ripred groaned, "He's a pain."

The Warrior and Queen Luxa both winced, that one rat had almost brought the destruction of Regalia.

**"He's a royal pain, frankly. He eats three times as much as the rest of us, yet he can't seem to get the knack of hunting. If we don't feed him he whines. So, of course, we do feed him and then he grows another six inches and whines louder. Believe me, he's doing a lot better than I am," growled Ripred.**

Ripred winced and so did Twitchtip, she had been getting used to the smell of the humans, even if it still bothered her.

**The rat found an old two-by-four by the stairs and began to gnaw on it. Strips of wood curled away from the board like apple peel.**

**"What about Luxa? Is she home?" asked Gregor, almost afraid to hear the answer.**

Gregor blushed, while Luxa smiled at him, glad that he cared for her.

**"No, she's not home," said Ripred, a little less brusquely. "I have it on good authority that she's not being held prisoner by the rats. It's possible she did escape the Labyrinth but...I wouldn't be too hopeful there, if I were you."**

Luxa, Howard and Gregor all winced, while The Warrior squeezed Queen Luxa's hand.

**Gregor gave a small nod. It had been months. If Luxa had escaped the rats, why wasn't she back in Regalia?**

**"And the others?" he said.**

**"Her bat's still missing. And the lovely Twitchtip's unaccounted for as well. Oh, you know who did show up? That crawler who was carting around your sister. What's his name, Tock...Ting...?" said Ripred.**

"Temp!" Boots shouted then proceeded to giggle and climb all over Temp.

While Ripred looked at Twitchtip, his tail twitched a little in concern since he didn't show it on his face.

**"Temp?" said Gregor's dad.**

**"That's it, Temp. He got home a few weeks after you left, as good as ever. Spent some time in the Dead Land growing a new leg or two," said Ripred. "He's very excited about seeing 'the princess' again."**

"I was, see, I was." Temp said.

**Gregor and his dad exchanged a look. Even if they could somehow convince his mom to let him go down, getting her to let Boots return to the Underland would be impossible.**

Grace nodded, like she'd even let any of them go.

**Ripred caught the moment that passed between them. "Well, you do know she has to come back? I mean, you've read 'The Prophecy of Blood,' right?"**

**"I've read it," said Gregor evasively. "I'm just not sure what happens next."**

**"I'll tell you what happens next," said Ripred. "Vikus is sending a bat up to your laundry room at midnight. He expects you and your sister to be waiting for it. We all do."**

**"And if we're not?" asked Gregor.**

**"If you're not, there's very little chance of any warmblooded creature surviving in the Underland. There's a plague running around down there causing all kinds of trouble, or didn't you hear?" said Ripred.**

Luxa winced, there was a plague and she wasn't there to rule the kingdom.

**"Yeah, that plague thing, that's not going to be a real plus when I ask my mom if we can go," said Gregor.**

**"The plague. Tell us about it," said Gregor's dad.**

**"Oh, it's some kind of pox," said Ripred. "High fever, pustules on the skin, eventually shuts down the lungs. They call it 'The Curse of the Warmbloods' because it only affects warmblooded creatures. The rats are dropping like flies. The bodies of a few bats who were scouts were found in the Dead Land. And nobody's heard from the nibblers yet."**

"Really? The nibblers?" Ripred questioned, while Luxa and Howard thought the same thing.

**"The nibblers?' said Gregor.**

**"Mice. That's what we call them. But listen, they've only had three plague cases in Regalia, and they're quarantined, so you'll be perfectly safe there. That's all we really need you for, the meeting in Regalia. All the warmbloods are sending representatives. Every creature's blood will be tested for the plague by the humans before they can participate. Just show up for that and you can go right home," said Ripred.**

The Warrior snorted, _'Liar.' _He thought.

**"I can?" said Gregor. Usually a prophecy required a lot more of him.**

**"Why not? All the prophecy says is to bring you from above. After that, what use will you be? You're eleven. No one expects you to personally whip up some cure for the plague with your chemistry set," said Ripred.**

Luxa shook her head, she knew there was something else to that.

**The rat was right. Curing a plague was really more of a job for doctors and scientists than for warriors.**

"Depends on the type of doctor." The Warrior whispered angrily, Queen Luxa squeezed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

**Gregor looked at his dad hopefully. "It's just for one meeting, Dad. And no one with the plague will be there. That would be okay, don't you think?"**

**"I don't know, Gregor," said his dad with a shake of his head.**

**"Oh, the warrior will come. We know that. It's his sister we're worried about," said Ripred.**

**"What makes you so sure I'll be there?" asked Gregor.**

**"Because of that bat of yours. The big moody one," said Ripred.**

Gregor looked at Ares, what was wrong with him? He was worried.

**"Ares?" said Gregor. "What's this got to do with Ares? Are they going to banish him if I don't show up?"**

**"It's worse than that, I'm afraid." The board Ripred was gnawing on snapped in two. He spit out a mouthful of wood shavings and looked at Gregor tiredly. "Those three plague cases in Regalia? He's one of them."**

Everyone was silent; Grace could see distress and saw how much Gregor cared for the bat, Ares.

Luxa was stressed, who were the other two cases?

Howard cleared his throat snapping everyone out of their thoughts, "Who's going to read next?"

"I will," Queen Luxa said.


	5. Chapter 5

Queen Luxa took the book, **"Chapter 4."**

**"Oh, no," said Gregor softly. Of all the horrible possibilities that had been running through his mind in the last few months, this was not one of them. "How bad is he?"**

Gregor was upset, he kept glancing at Ares, as if expecting him to have the plague right then and there.

**"He's bad. He was the first case in Regalia. They think he contracted the plague when he was attacked by those mites in the Waterway. Then he must have passed it on to the rats in the Labyrinth," said Ripred.**

**"Mites? But, I thought only warmblooded animals could get it," said Gregor's dad.**

**"Yes, but bloodsucking or carnivorous insects can carry it and spread it from warmblood to warm-blood," said Ripred.**

Luxa had sadness in her eyes, she was still not at her kingdom even though she should be.

**"So, he's going to die?" Gregor said in a cracked voice.**

Gregor's eyes widened, he prayed that Ares didn't die.

**"Well, let's not write him off yet," said Ripred. "They've got medicines in Regalia that can at least ease his symptoms, which is more than the rats have. And he's strong."**

**"That's true," said Gregor, feeling slightly more optimistic. "He's the strongest bat down there. And he's stubborn, too. He'll fight it."**

Ares had been nervous throughout this but didn't show his distress, he didn't want to alarm Gregor anymore. While he was happy that Gregor thought of him as the strongest bat.

**"Yes, he'll try and hang on because he believes help is on the way. Because the warrior, his bond, will come. There will be a meeting. Then a search for the cure will begin. Of course, if you take that hope away..." Ripred let the sentence dangle on purpose.**

Lizzie shook her head, of course that will make Gregor go down, he just wouldn't be able to see people in pain.

**"I'll be there, Ripred," said Gregor.**

**"Don't bother coming without your sister. It's a waste of time. According to Sandwich, the crawlers have to be involved, and they've only agreed to send a representative if Boots is there," said Ripred.**

**"I don't know how I'm going to get my mom to let her —" Gregor said.**

**"Your mom. You tell your mom this from me. If you and your sister don't show up, the rats will send an escort," said Ripred.**

Grace shivered at that and glanced at Ripred, he had been smirking and looked at her when he felt her gaze. She dropped it immediately and listened to the book.

**"What's that mean?" said his dad.**

**"It means, be there at midnight," said Ripred.**

**"But —" Gregor began.**

**The rat gave a groan of pain and hunched over for a few moments. "Argh, I've got to find something to fill my belly. And in another minute it will be one of you," he snarled. "Go on. Go home! You know what you have to do! So do it!"**

Grace clung on to Boots, who she had set in her lap, she didn't want any of her children to go down.

Ripred's hand twitched a little, he was so not looking forward to that.

**Ripred turned and vanished into the shadows.**

**Gregor and his dad climbed back up to the park, pried the stone slab loose, and pulled themselves out. They quickly repositioned the rock and headed toward the street.**

**"What are we going to do, Dad?" Gregor asked, as they stood on the curb, trying to hail a cab.**

**"Don't worry, we'll figure out something," said his dad. "Just don't you worry."**

**But Gregor was very worried, and he could tell his dad was, too.**

**His mom was home from waiting tables when they returned. She was still in her uniform, with her feet propped up on the coffee table, looking beat. She worked seven days a week, every week, unless it was one of those major holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas when almost everybody was off. She joked that Saturday and Sunday evenings were her days off because she got finished at four o'clock. She never mentioned how she also had to show up for work at six in the morning on the weekends. No, his mom never complained. Probably because she was so grateful to have them all home again. And now he was going to have to tell her they were going back to the Underland.**

Grace winced while Gregor and The Warrior looked guilty, they just didn't like doing that to their mom.

**"How was the movie?" she asked with a smile as they came in.**

**"We didn't see a movie, Mom," said Gregor.**

**His mom raised her eyebrows questioningly, but before Gregor could continue, the door to the kitchen swung open and Mrs. Cormaci stuck her head out. "Good, you're back. Dinner in three minutes," she said and disappeared.**

**"What's she still doing here?" Gregor blurted out.**

"Gregor," Grace chastised him unintentionally; both Gregor and The Warrior muttered an apology. While Ripred and Queen Luxa were snickering.

**"I invited her to stay for dinner. She made the stew after all. Then she and the girls wouldn't let me help," said his mom. "What's with you, anyway? I thought you liked Mrs. Cormaci."**

**"I do," said Gregor. "I do."**

**"Then go wash up and find your manners while you're at it," said his mom. The kitchen door swung open again and Lizzie and Boots stuck their heads out. "Two minutes," said Lizzie importantly.**

**"Two!" Boots echoed.**

**"Go ahead and wash up, Gregor," said his dad. "We can tell your mom about our afternoon later."**

"You do realize, she won't let them go, right?" Lizzie had surprisingly said to Ripred.

He was a little shocked but recovered, "I have my ways." He said in a surprisingly non-condescending voice. Everybody was surprised except The Warrior and Queen Luxa, who continued reading.

**Gregor understood. There could be no talking about the Underland until Mrs. Cormaci cleared out. But who knew when that would be? There weren't that many hours left until midnight.**

**He was fidgety the whole meal, wishing Mrs. Cormaci would go home. He felt kind of guilty because she was obviously having such a good time. They all were, his sisters, his mom, and even his grandma had come out and sat at the table instead of eating off a tray in her bed. There was stew and warm bread, and Mrs. Cormaci and his sisters had baked a cake for a surprise. It was practically a party. But Gregor could not join in the fun; he could not think of anything except getting to the Underland to help Ares.**

Ares was surprised, Gregor thought of him even though he could be having fun.

**The meal dragged on endlessly. Then everyone sat in the living room to talk for a while. Gregor gave big yawns, hoping Mrs. Cormaci would pick up on the hint, but she didn't even seem to notice. Finally, at around nine-thirty, she stood up and stretched and said she better get home to bed.**

**Everyone was so keyed up, it was another hour before his grandma, Lizzie, and Boots had settled down in their rooms. When his mom came out from kissing them all good night, Gregor grabbed her hand and without a word led her into the kitchen. His dad was right on their heels.**

Grace sighed she knew she would say no to the Underland.

**"What? What is going on with you two?" said his mom.**

**"I heard from the Underland today. We went and talked to Ripred under Central Park, and Ares is dying, Mom, and Boots and I have to go back down to save him! At midnight! Tonight!" The words that had been pressing on Gregor's chest spilled out before he could stop them. He instantly regretted his impulsive delivery. The horrified look on his mom's face told him this had not been the way to break the news.**

Gregor and The Warrior winced, that had most defiantly not been the way to break the news.

**"No, you do not! You are not! You are never going down to that place again!" she said.**

**"Look, Mom, you don't understand!" said Gregor.**

**"I understand all I need to understand! First your father locked up down there for years. You and Boots disappearing like that. Giant roaches stealing my baby! There is nothing to understand and there is nothing to discuss! You are not going down there again! Ever!" His mom was gripping the back of a chair so hard her knuckles had turned white.**

Howard thought about it and realized that, if he was in her place, he would say no to, it was only logical.

**His dad intervened. He sat her down at the table and tried to explain the situation in a calm, rational voice. The more he talked, the larger her eyes grew in disbelief.**

**"What did you tell him? Did you tell that rat they were coming? Did you tell Gregor he could go?" she asked.**

**"Of course I didn't! But it isn't so simple, letting a whole civilization die! There are a lot of good people down there. Good people and animals, too, who risked their lives saving me, saving the kids. We can't just turn our backs on them!" said his dad.**

**"I can," said his mother bitterly. "You just watch me."**

Grace winced, while Luxa, Howard, Aurora, Ares and Queen Luxa all looked at her appalled that she would do that.

**"Well, I'm going," said Gregor flatly.**

**"Oh, no, you're not. You're not going anywhere but to bed," said his mom. "Now go brush your teeth. And I don't want to hear another word out of either of you about this." His mother's face was set like stone. Gregor felt his dad's hand on his arm. "Better go to bed, son. I don't think we're going to change her mind."**

**"Nothing will change my mind," said his mom.**

Ripred smirked, he could change her mind.

**And that's when it started.**

**At first, there was just a faint scratching in the wall. Then a skittering sound. And suddenly, it was as if the kitchen were alive. Scores of small,** **clawed feet were running around and around inside the walls. Only a thin layer of plaster separated Gregor and his parents from them.**

**"What's that? What's that sound?" said his mother, her head darting from side to side.**

**"It sounds like rats," said his dad.**

**"Rats? I thought they couldn't get up here!" said his mom.**

**"The Underland ones can't. But I guess the regular ones can. And they know each other," said Gregor. He looked anxiously at the walls. What was going on?**

**"Maybe this is what Ripred meant by the rats sending you an escort," said his dad.**

**The creatures began to squeak now, as if to confirm what his dad had just said.**

**"That must be it," Gregor thought. "The rats are going to try and scare my mom into letting us go." But how far would they take this? The Underland rats believed their whole existence was in jeopardy. That they would all die if Gregor and Boots didn't come. "They'll kill us before they let us stay here," he said aloud, without thinking.**

Lizzie rolled her eyes, _'way to make her more frightened, Gregor.'_

**"I'm calling the police. Or the fire department. I'm calling 911!" said his mother. She rushed into the living room, and Gregor and his dad went after her.**

**"It won't do any good, Mom!" said Gregor. "What's the fire department going to do?"**

**The rats began to pour into the living room walls. They were louder now.**

Ripred smirked, he could bet that all those rats were probably having fun making all that noise.

**"Oh, my. Oh! Get the girls! Get Grandma!" Gregor's mom grabbed the phone receiver and dialed the emergency number. "Come on, come on!" Then a look of shock crossed her face. "The line just went dead."**

**"Okay, we're getting out of here!" said his dad.**

**They all rushed into the bedroom for Gregor's grandma and sisters. His mom swept a sleeping Boots right out of her crib. "They're not getting Boots again! They're not getting her!" said his mom shrilly.**

**His dad pulled back the covers on the main bed and wrapped his grandma in a quilt.**

**"What's going on?" said the old woman in confusion.**

**"Nothing, Mama. We think there might be a fire in the building, so we're just getting out while they check," said his dad. He struggled as he lifted her out of the bed like a baby.**

**Gregor shook Lizzie's shoulder. Her eyes flew open and she was instantly wide awake. "What is it, Gregor? What's that sound?"**

**The rats had not followed them to the bedroom, but they were still making a racket in the living room walls.**

**"That's rats, isn't it?" she said. "They're in the apartment!"**

**"No, not in the apartment. Just in the walls. But we got to get out of here. Come on now!" He guided his sister out of bed and into the living room. As the full impact of the rat noise hit her, Lizzie began to tremble all over.**

**"Come on, Lizzie! It'll be okay once we're outside!" said Gregor, and propelled her across the room. He grabbed their coats as his mom flung open the front door and ran. Gregor pulled Lizzie along after her. His dad brought up the rear with his grandma.**

**"Nobody get on the elevator," said his mom. "Take the stairs." Clutching Boots, she led them to the far end of the hall and yanked open the door to the stairwell.**

**At the top of the stairs, his dad had to set his grandma on her feet. "I'm going to need your help, Gregor. I can't get her down myself."**

**Gregor thrust the coats into Lizzie's arms. "You carry these." Lizzie stared back at him, her pupils huge, her breath coming in short, painful pants. "It's okay, Lizzie. It's okay. Listen, you can't even hear them out here."**

Ripred felt a little regret about the rats but because Lizzie reminded him a little of Silksharp, even with the amount of time he's known her.

**You couldn't hear anything. The stairwell didn't border anyone's apartment. It was sandwiched between the outside wall of the complex and the elevator shaft. It was quiet at night where they lived, anyway. Most people in the building had small kids or were elderly. Even on a Saturday night it seemed like everybody went to bed by ten.**

**Lizzie clutched the coats against her chest. "I — can — carry — them," she got out.**

**Gregor locked forearms with his dad behind his grandma's back and legs, and they lifted her in a sitting position. They had carried her this way before around the apartment, when her arthritis was particularly bad.**

**"Stay right with us, honey," his dad said to Lizzie. "Hold on to my arm so I know you're there."**

**His family moved in a tight clump down the stairs. They had gone down about two floors when the rat noise started up again. It wasn't much at first. But it increased in volume at every step until they had to raise their voices to be heard.**

Ripred rolled his eyes; of course the rats would follow them.

While Grace was scared, this is what happens if Gregor doesn't go down there?

**"Hurry!" said his mom. "It's not far now!"**

**Finally, the door to the lobby came into view. His mom backed into the door, holding it open as Gregor and his dad stumbled by. "When we get outside, we go straight to the avenue. Get a cab. Then the bus station. Come on, Lizzie! Come on, baby!" said his mom.**

**Tears were coursing down Lizzie's cheeks now. She had stopped at the bottom of the steps and was gasping so hard she couldn't speak. Shifting Boots to one hip, his mom got an arm protectively around Lizzie's shoulders and they fled for the entrance.**

Lizzie was scared and curled into Grace a little who put an arm around her.

**The clamor of the rats was worse than ever. The rodents' squeaks had evolved into horrible shrieks. Claws were scratching now with purpose, trying to dig through the plaster. Gregor and his dad reached the entrance first. It was a double door made of thick, warped glass. They set his grandma's feet on the ground, and Gregor's dad reached for the handle. He had opened it only a crack when Gregor saw something. Gregor let go of his grandma and threw his shoulder against the glass, slamming the door shut.**

**His dad fell to his knees as he caught his grandma. Gregor could see his mom yelling at him, but he couldn't really hear her over the din of the rats. Knowing he couldn't be heard, either, Gregor pounded his fist into the glass near his knees, drawing everyone's focus to the base of the door.**

**Pressed against the outside, smearing the glass with saliva as they tried to gnaw through it, were hundreds of rats.**

'_That is disgusting.'_ Was Luxa, Queen Luxa and Lizzie's thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

**Third Persons POV**

The Warrior plucked the book from Queen Luxa's hand and was about to read but Queen Luxa stopped him.

"After this chapter, the lasagna will be ready and once we finish eating we can head to bed, since it's almost 10." She said while looking at a watch that was on The Warrior's arm. Everybody nodded in agreement and The Warrior continued, **"Chapter 5."**

**Gregor's family staggered back from the front door and huddled in a knot at the center of the lobby. Lizzie was crouched down in a ball, panting, her palms shining with sweat.**

Everybody winced; even Twitchtip felt a little bad for Lizzie. Ripred was now feeling more regret for sending the rats.

**Gregor's mom kneeled on the floor, one arm wrapped tightly around Lizzie, the other around Boots, who had started to wake. The toddler rubbed her sleepy face in her mother's shoulder and blinked into the fluorescent lights of the lobby. His dad had gotten back to his feet, holding his grandma, who had her eyes squeezed shut and had her hands over her ears.**

The Warrior saddened a little t the thought of his grandmother, she had still tried to hold on to life, even at her dying breath.

**Gregor was afraid to leave the door to join them. Afraid the bolt would give way under the pressure of the rats. He braced his back against the door and looked at his family helplessly. There was no leaving the building. What were they going to do? Something caught his mom's attention and she seemed to stop breathing. Gregor followed her eyes to the wall off to his right. At first he didn't see anything. Then a puff of plaster dust floated out near the baseboard. A small clawed paw broke through the wall and a rat's nose poked through.**

'_That will definitely get me to let them go.' _Grace thought with wide eyes.

**"All right!" screamed his mother. "All right, they can go!"**

**It was like someone had thrown a switch. The rat noise stopped instantly. Gregor could hear only Lizzie's ragged gasps, the hum of the fluorescent lights, and the distant sound of traffic from the street. He looked down at the glass door. Not a rat in sight. But he knew they were there, in the walls, in the bushes, waiting and watching.**

Everybody was relieved, at least now Gregor could stop the plague.

**"We can go?" asked Gregor.**

**"You can go," said his mother in a hoarse voice. "But this time, I'm going with you."**

The Warrior winced inwardly; he was remembering what he had thought during this quest with his mother coming down. _'I hope she forgives me.'_

**"Come on. Let's get back upstairs and talk about this," said his dad.**

**Gregor went over to Lizzie and helped her up. "You okay, Liz?"**

**"My — fingers — got — pins and — needles," she choked out.**

**"I think you're having a panic attack, honey," Gregor's dad said softly. "And no wonder. When we get upstairs, I'll get you a paper bag to breathe in. Fix you right up." He jabbed the elevator button with his elbow and the doors to it opened at once. Like it had been waiting.**

Ripred mumbled something, but it seemed that Ares, Aurora, Twitchtip Temp, The Warrior and Queen Luxa heard him. They were all shocked except for The Warrior who had an evil smirk upon his face.

"What was that, I didn't quite catch it?"

Ripred looked at him with resentment in his eyes, now everybody was looking at the two of them, wondering what Ripred said.

"I said, I'm sorry," Ripred answered, although he was looking at Lizzie.

Everybody was taken back, especially Gregor, Luxa and Lizzie. Lizzie was shocked for a while but eventually answered.

"I-it's fine," She responded softly. Ripred nodded then turned his attention back to The Warrior who had a knowing smile on his face.

**His family stepped inside.**

**"I can do button," said Boots. His mom held her out so she could press the number for their floor.**

**"See?" said Boots proudly.**

**"Good girl," said Gregor's mom dully, and the doors closed.**

**Back in the apartment, the clock on the wall said eleven-thirty. "We've got a half hour," said Gregor.**

**His dad settled his grandma back in her bed. Then he sat Lizzie on the couch and taught her to breathe into a small paper bag. "Too much oxygen getting into you, pumpkin. Just take it slow."**

Lizzie looked down sadly, she really wished she didn't go into her panic attacks.

**Lizzie nodded and tried to follow his instructions. But she looked miserable. "I don't — want Mom — to go."**

**"I think she's right," said Gregor's dad. "We need you up here. I'll go down with Boots and Gregor."**

**"No," said his mom. "I have to go."**

**"Why can't dad go?" said Gregor, a little too forcefully. His mom shot him a look and he began to backpedal. "I mean, he's been before. People know him."**

The Warrior winced as we read a little ahead; his mom was going to be upset and disappointed in him. He looked up at Grace but quickly looked back down, he wasn't sure if after this he would be able to look at his mom. He was in such deep thought that he didn't notice people were waiting for him, Queen Luxa tapped him on the arm and he jumped.

"What?" He asked blinking his eyes rapidly.

"Continue," She told him looking at him questionably.

"Oh, right," He continued the book.

**This was true, but it was not the real reason Gregor wanted his dad instead of his mom. For starters, she was furious. No telling what she'd say to the Underlanders. There was something else, too. Down in the Underland, Gregor had an identity. He was the warrior. Even if he didn't always buy into that himself, it was important that everybody else did. And somehow, he didn't think it was going to look so hot for the warrior to be showing up with his mom. Especially when he knew she'd have no problem saying stuff like, "Now go wash your hands and find your manners while you're at it," or sending him to bed even if there was a bunch of people around.**

Grace looked hurt and gazed down at the ground, Luxa, Howard Queen Luxa and Lizzie were all shocked that Gregor had felt that way. While Gregor and The Warrior were both looking down guiltily. The Warrior then got up from his spot and kneeled down in front of his mom.

He looked up at her with sad eyes, "I am so, so, so sorry. And you know I love you, you're my mom! And-"He said sincerely and his eyes had started watering up. Everybody was shocked except Queen Luxa, who had been expecting his pent up emotions to come out soon, even reading only six chapters made him think all about the past.

Grace looked up shocked but then hugged The Warrior; he immediately hugged back and put his head in her shoulder. Everybody had watched the family moment happily until Ripred decided to break it up, he coughed loudly and everybody looked at him.

"Can we pleeease finish this chapter? I'm starving." That seemed to get The Warrior out of his funk, for he started chuckling.

"Yeah, sure Ripred," He walked back to his spot by Luxa and picked up the book. Meanwhile Gregor had moved to his mom's side and laid his head on her shoulder.

**"I can't be the one waiting and wondering what's happening to the rest of you. Not this time." His mom set Boots down and wrapped her arms around Lizzie. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Lizzie?"**

**Lizzie nodded. "I could — go — too," she said bravely. But the very notion was so scary, it caused her to start panting again.**

Lizzie saddened at the thought that she wasn't even as brave as Gregor or even Boots!

**"No, I need you to stay up here and keep an eye on your dad and grandma. We won't be gone long. There's just one meeting, and we're coming straight back," said Gregor's mom, stroking Lizzie's hair.**

The Warrior winced, they wouldn't be able to come straight back.

**"And then — can we go — away?" said Lizzie.**

**"That's right," said his mom. "How'd you like to move down to your uncle's farm in Virginia?"**

Queen Luxa winced at this part, The Warrior had told her about how his family had almost moved to Virginia. She tightened her hold on The Warrior; she was never ever going to let him go. While Luxa looked stricken, _'Gregor was going to leave?' _She thought.

**"Good," said Lizzie, looking a little better. "That'd be — good."**

**"Well, you better start packing while I'm gone. Okay, baby?" said his mom.**

**"Okay," said Lizzie. And she actually smiled.**

**Gregor felt like a jerk. Here he'd been worried about how cool he'd look having his mom around in the Underland. He wasn't thinking about her at all. Or about the rest of his family. He reached out and gave Lizzie a pat. "We'll be back in a couple hours, Liz," he said.**

The Warrior and Queen Luxa smirked; Lizzie would never want to leave the Underland, _'Especially since there is a certain someone down there.'_ They both thought simultaneously.

**"That's right." His mom kissed Lizzie and gave her a squeeze, then turned to him. "So, what do we need to take?"**

**"Light," said Gregor. "That's the main thing. I'll get it, Mom."**

"So much better with echolocation," Ripred mumbled to himself.

**While his dad took the crowbar down to the laundry room to pry open the grate, Gregor dug around the apartment for a couple of flashlights and all the batteries he could find. His mom just sat on the couch, an arm around each of his sisters, talking in a soothing voice about what their new life would be like in Virginia.**

**Gregor went into the bedroom and saw that his grandma wasn't asleep.**

**"You need to go back down to that place," she said to him. It wasn't a question.**

**"I'm in another prophecy, Grandma," Gregor said, and showed it to her.**

**"Then you got to go. You can run away, but the prophecy will find you somehow," she said.**

**"That's how it seems to be working out," said Gregor. He straightened her quilts. "You take care of yourself, okay?"**

**"You, too. See you soon, Gregor," she said.**

**"See you soon," he said. He kissed her on the forehead and she gave him a smile.**

The Warrior smiled, his grandmother had seemed to know a lot abput what was going on.

**They had to risk leaving his grandma alone for a short time, while they went to the laundry room. But it was doubtful she would try and get out of bed, anyway. And the rats weren't coming back. They had what they wanted.**

**His dad had pushed the dryer over. Now there was some space in front of the grate, which was propped open. Wisps of white vapor were curling out of the darkness inside the wall. "Looks like the currents are active," said his dad. "You could probably ride them right down to the Underland. But Ripred said there would be a bat."**

**The words were not out of his mouth when a large, furry face appeared in the opening. The bat was extraordinary looking — white with dramatic black stripes radiating out from its nose to its ears.**

Queen Luxa and The Warrior both sighed at thinking of another bat, _'Pandora,' _They both thought with sadness at how Howard would be devastated.

**His mother gasped, and Lizzie let out a sharp cry. It was the first Underland creature either of them had ever seen.**

**But Boots immediately put out her little hand to stroke the bat's fur. "Oh, you look like zebra. Z is for zebra. Hi, you!"**

**"Greetings," purred the bat. "I am she called Nike. Are you ready to depart?"**

**Gregor's family looked at one another, then wordlessly exchanged hugs.**

**"How do we...get on you?" his mother asked the bat.**

**"You must fall. But do not worry. The current is such that you will ride safely to the ground with or without a flier. I am only here for your ease of mind,"  
said Nike.**

**The bat dropped out of sight. Boots started eagerly for the grate. "Me next!"**

**Gregor grabbed her and almost laughed at her excitement. "I think I'm going to hold on to you this time. Ready, Mom?"**

**His mom kneeled down by the grate and stuck her head into it. "We're just...supposed to jump?" She pulled her head out, looking bewildered.**

**"Wait a sec," said Gregor. He set Boots on the floor and climbed out into the mist, hanging from the edge of the grate opening by one hand. "Now pass down Boots," he said. His dad swung Boots into his free arm. She latched on to him like a baby koala bear. "Come on, Mom. You jump, grab on to us, and we'll all go down together."**

**His mother bit her lip, gave one look back at his dad and Lizzie, and scooted herself, feet first, out of the laundry room. As she came through, her hand latched on to the wrist that was supporting Gregor, and he released the grate.**

**Within seconds, the swirling mist blotted out the light from the laundry room. He locked his fingers around his mom's wrist and could feel her pulse going a mile a minute. He tried to block out the terror he felt of heights, of falling, but it wasn't really something he could control. The first time he'd taken this trip he had calmed himself down by telling himself this was just a bad dream.**

**But the little voice squealing delightedly in his ear was all too real. "Gre-go! Mama! Boots! We all go wheeeeee!"**

The Warrior closed the book, "Let's eat!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Third Person POV**

Everyone followed The Warrior out of the room and back into the kitchen. They all took their seats as Queen Luxa passed out plates and silverware.

"Here we go," The Warrior set down the lasagna in the middle, "How about I cut it and put a piece on everybody's plate?"

Everyone agreed and he cut a square out for everybody as they passed up there plate. Once everybody had a piece they all dug in, confident in the cooking skills. It was a silent dinner as they were all wary of each other, except The Warrior and Queen Luxa. Boots had started falling asleep, so they all decided it was time to hit the sack.

They all followed The Warrior as he led them to a hallway, they came upon three doors on the left side and two doors on right side.

"Right, sleeping arrangements, Queen Luxa and I have it all figured out." He gestured to the left side, "The first door is for Temp, Twitchtip, Ripred, Aurora and Ares." Some of the mentioned looked nervous, but didn't speak up. "Mom, Lizzie, Boots and Luxa are in the one next door." Luxa looked nervous with being in a room with people she didn't really know. "And Gregor and Howard will be the last door."

"Hold on," Howard said with a questioning look, "Where will you two be sleeping?" Everyone turned to him, but he shrugged.

"Across the hall, see," He pointed to the two doors on the right, "I'm on further right, while Queen Luxa is in the one further left. Is everyone okay with the sleeping arrangements?"

Everyone nodded while Howard was still skeptical, but seemed to let it go for now.

"Right well, you should all get a good night's rest, lot of reading to be done tomorrow." He walked right off to his room, "Oh and good night!" He closed the door, while Queen Luxa stood there and rolled her eyes, but with a smile on her face.

"Well, what he said was true," she told everybody, "It would be wise to get a good night's rest, good night." She walked off to her room and closed her door. everyone murmured good night's and headed to their designated rooms.

**Ripred's POV**

As I walked into the room, he had to actually admire it, _'At Least they tried to make an effort.' _The room had a spot for each individual animal. Temp had a corner that seemed like solid rock. He immediately went over and fell asleep. There seemed to be a shelf with a bar underneath it, more than enough room for two bats. Ares and Aurora softly said good night and hung upside down upon the bar.

I looked at the spot set for Twitchtip and I, they seemed to have put a mattress and blankets around it. _'Most likely to make it soft,'_ I scoffed in my head, but the effort was decent.

"Hello, what's this," I muttered, as I saw bones near the area. I picked one up and sniffed, _'A dog bone? Awww, they does care for us.' _I bounced on the mattress, and started gnawing on the bone, while Twitchtip cautiously sniffed it and recoiled.

"Sleep on the floor if it bothers you so much." I shrugged, but was surprised when she climbed on and laid down. I looked for a moment, but shrugged again; if she wanted to get used to the smell, she could do it however she wanted. I curled up and promptly fell asleep after that.

**Luxa's POV**

I walked in as Boots, Lizzie and Gregor's mom followed behind me. The room itself was spacious, there were three beds when you first walked in. The first two seemed to be a little bigger than twin beds, while the third was almost queen size.

"Er, I guess, Luxa and I get the twins. While, uh, Boots and mom get the queen?" Lizzie looked at me hurriedly, "I . . I mean, if that's all right?"

I blinked, "Oh, yes, it's perfectly fine." Nodding as well to confirm. Lizzie sighed, as if relieved I had agreed. _'Did she think I was going to disagree?' _

There were two other doors in the room, I opened one and saw a large bathroom with a shower, sink, toilet and tub. Lizzie opened the other door and seemed to stand still with her mouth wide open. It was a walk-in closet that had all different types of shirts, shoes, skirts; just about any type of clothing.

"Wow," Lizzie murmured to herself. She seemed to snap out of her trance when Boots yawned and went in to get some pajamas. I went to get myself pajamas as Lizzie was talking.

"I'm going to change in the bathroom." She went in and shut the door.

I walked out as Gregor's mom walked in with Boots, "I think I will change in the closet." She nodded at me and closed the door.

I stayed in the bed area and just changed there, I had just picked a simple pair of pajamas. A white pair of fluffy pajama pants and a black t-shirt. I crawled into bed and under the sheets as Lizzie came out of the bathroom. She looked at me then to unoccupied queen's bed, she opened her mouth about to speak, when Gregor's mom came out of the closet with Boots sleeping in her arms. Lizzie went over and hugged her mom and climbed into bed, Gregor's mom put Boots on the bed first and she got in afterward.

"Goodnight," Lizzie called out before rolling over and drifting off to sleep.

"Night," I mumbled as I fell to sleep.

**Howard's POV**

I walked into the room with Gregor in front of me, the room was simple enough; two twin beds and there seemed to be two other doors. _'One must be the bathroom.' _I opened one the doors and sure enough, it was. _'Now to check the other,'_ I opened it and it seemed to be a closet. I looked at the clothes for a while then rushed into get pajamas.

"I'll change in the bathroom," I walked in and shut the door, I changed while thinking of the predicament we were in. _'It seems so unreal, I mean, books about the future? And about Gregor nonetheless.' _I walked out to see Gregor in bed, it was awkward to say the least, I hardly knew him and all of us were going to be reading his thoughts!

"Goodnight," he murmured to me and rolled on his side. I climbed into bed and fell asleep to silence.

**The Warrior's POV**

I had already changed into my pajamas and was laying down on my bed. It was lonely, seeing as how Luxa and I were married, we would usually sleep in a bed together. _'But we can't because Howard and mom would disapprove and it could also set back our plan.' _I sighed sadly and looked over on a night stand by my bed, it had a black velvet case sitting on it.

I opened it and saw a beautiful diamond ring on a simple silver band, it was Luxa's ring. While I had her's, she had mine. It was her idea, since we couldn't wear them, she suggested we keep each other's. I smiled and set the ring back on the stand, flipping the lights off, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, thinking of tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

Queen Luxa was the first one up, she decided to wake The Warrior up so they could make breakfast for everybody. She didn't bother knocking, I mean, they were married and he was most likely sleeping anyways. Sure enough, when she opened the door he was still sleeping. Queen Luxa smiled to herself, she knew these books were going to bring back old wounds and he would most likely start having nightmares. It almost saddened her to have to wake him, almost.

"Gregor, come on, I need help with breakfast." She shook his arm gently to wake him, but instead he snagged her wrist and pulled her gently onto the bed.

"Just five more minutes," he murmured as he pulled her into his chest.

She laughed at how affectionate he was being, "You know I can't, I need to make breakfast and with your help." He groaned, but nodded in defeat.

Queen Luxa smiled and gave him a quick kiss, "Be in the kitchen, in five minutes." She walked out and heard him getting out of bed.

Five minutes later, he was up and in the kitchen. The Warrior had just decided to go with a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. Queen Luxa had the same except with a purple shirt. They worked together until the smell of bacon, eggs and pancakes filled the air. The first to show up were the animals, there sense of smell being stronger, smelt the food first.

"Aww, breakfast, you shouldn't have." Ripred told them mockingly.

They both rolled their eyes, but before they could reply Grace walked in with Boots in her arms. After that, everybody followed in all dressed. They ate the breakfast fairly quickly and headed into living room, they all sat in their previous spots.

"Right, who wants to read next?" The Warrior asked.

"I'll read," Grace spoke up, he passed the book to her, "**CHAPTER 6."**

**"Gregor! We're going to be killed!" cried his mother. **

**"No, Mom, we'll be fine," said Gregor, sounding calmer than he felt.**

Ripred snorted, "Did you really think that Nike wouldn't let you ride her?

"Hey! I wasn't really thinking, gosh." The Warrior dramatically huffed.

"We could tell," Ripred snorted.

**"Hey, Nike?" he called. "Do you think we could ride down?"**

**He didn't know if the bat had heard him, or if she was even still around, but suddenly he was sitting on her back. Nike gave a twist and his mom was riding behind him.**

**"Certainly you may ride," said Nike. "Whatever manner is most comfortable." **

**Her voice had a pleasant, cheerful quality that seemed unusual for a bat. Of course, the main bat Gregor talked to was Ares, and he was usually pretty depressed. Not that his friend didn't have good reason to be.**

Ares looked down at that and shuffled a little.

"Hey, it's fine; I like you just the way you are." The Warrior said while smiling.

**"Thanks," said Gregor. He settled Boots in front of him and clicked on a flashlight. The beam caught the swirls of mist. It gave the impression that they were surrounded by a beautiful, spooky white forest. But through the vapors, Gregor could make out the walls of the wide, stone tube they were descending.**

**"I can ride bat," said Boots, rubbing her hands on Nike's striped neck. "Z is for zebra. Z is for zoo. And zip!" She'd been a little obsessed with the alphabet lately.**

"A is for apple! B is for banana!" Boots shouted encouragingly.

**"I expected only yourself and your sister, Gregor the Overlander. Could it be that this third human is your mother?" asked Nike.**

**"Yeah, she wanted to come see the Underland," Gregor said. To himself he added, "like she wanted a hole in the head."**

"Gregor?" Grace said, a little hurt; she was just wanted her family to be safe.

Both had the decency to look down ashamed.

**"Oh, there has been much speculation in the Underland as to the greatness of she who is mother to both the warrior and the princess," said Nike. "What an honor to meet you, Warrior's Mother!"**

Lizzie and Gregor laughed a little but covered their mouths, while Grace looked at them with exasperation.

**"You, too," said his mom stiffly. "And you can just call me Grace."**

**Gregor grinned into the mist. He could tell his mom was thrown by both the friendliness of the bat and how complimentary she was. "So, I don't think I met you before, Nike," he said.**

**"Oh, no. We did not meet. But I saw you in my homeland when you were fulfilling 'The Prophecy of Gray,'" she said.**

**"When we went to see Queen Athena?" asked Gregor. That was the only time he had visited the bats' land. There had been hundreds, maybe thousands hanging from the ceiling of the cavernous place. He could only remember the queen.**

**"Yes, my mother," said Nike.**

'_Her mother?' _Lizzie and Gregor thought.

**"Your mother? Then you must be a princess," said Gregor, a little surprised. She had not introduced herself as Princess Nike.**

**"I am, yes. But I hope you will not hold it against me." Nike laughed.**

"Ha! As if I would!" Gregor exclaimed.

**When they finally landed, they had to climb off Nike's back so that they could squeeze through the crack in the side of the tube to the tunnel.**

**"It won't be far now to Regalia," said Gregor, as they all climbed back on Nike.**

**"Good. The sooner we get this meeting over with, the better," said his mom.**

The Warrior winced, _'Not the plan at all.'_

**It had taken Gregor about twenty minutes to jog to Regalia after his first fall, but the trip was much shorter on a bat. Before he knew it, Nike was waved through a guarded entrance and there beneath them was Regalia. It was morning, and the city was just stirring to life.**

**"Oh!" he heard his mom exclaim under her breath. The gorgeous stone city with its ornate towers and intricate carvings could impress even her.**

Lizzie sighed at that, wishing she could see it.

**Nike flew them into the High Hall of the palace where Vikus was waiting for them. The old man's face was careworn, and his eyes had lost their brightness. Luxa's disappearance and probable death had taken their toll. But when Vikus saw Gregor, he smiled with relief.**

The Warrior put his arm around Queen Luxa, as they both knew how much Luxa's disappearance had grieved him.

**"Gregor the Overlander. I knew you would not forsake us," he said. "And here is Boots as well!"**

**"Hi, you!" said Boots.**

**Gregor and Boots slid off Nike's back, revealing their mother. She got off Nike and grabbed Boots before she could run off. "You stay right here with me."**

**"If my eyes do not deceive me, this must be the woman to whom the Underland owes its very life," said Vikus. He gave a low bow to Gregor's mother. "Welcome, and deepest gratitude, Mother of Our Light."**

This time The Warrior gave a low chuckle as well, as Gregor and Lizzie started laughing again.

**"You can just call me Grace," said his mom tersely.**

**"Grace," Vikus said, as if savoring the word. "A fitting name for one who has so aided us. I am Vikus."**

**"Uh-huh. So, where's this meeting?" said his mom, shifting Boots to her other hip.**

"Mom, that was a little rude." Gregor reprimanded.

**"Now that you have landed, the preparations may begin. The delegates' blood must be screened for the plague. Forgive the intrusion, but we must examine your blood as well," said Vikus.**

**"But we don't have the plague!" said his mom, visibly alarmed at the idea.**

**"This is my hope. But our doctors have put forth the theory that Ares contracted the plague when he was attacked by mites on the journey to the Labyrinth. As both your children were present when he was bitten, and Gregor was in close contact with him for several days that followed, it is essential that we test their blood," said Vikus. "We must also rule out that the children may have passed it on to you."**

**It had not crossed Gregor's mind that he and Boots could have been exposed to the plague. Now, he remembered examining Ares' skin with Luxa so they could dab medicine on the spots where the mites had eaten away the bat's flesh. His fingers had been covered in Ares's blood. And, at the time, open sores from a squid-sucker attack had covered his forearm. The bat's blood could have gotten into his wounds.**

Gregor shivered, not wanting to be reminded of that little adventure. Luxa patted his hand, not wanting to be reminded of that either.

**_Warmblood now a bloodborne death ..._**

**His mother's free arm reached for him and pulled him close. "But...if they'd been exposed to the plague, they'd have it by now, right?" she said. "I mean, they'd be showing symptoms, wouldn't they?"**

**"I cannot say," said Vikus. "Some creatures fall ill within days, others seem to show no symptoms for months. It is an insidious and clever thing."**

**His mother kept her arm tightly around him as they followed Vikus down a hall and into a brightly lit room. A small woman was leaning over a table filled with medical equipment. There were glass vials of liquids, an oil lamp with a blue flame, and an oddly designed piece of equipment that Gregor guessed was a microscope.**

**"Doctor Neveeve —" began Vikus, and the woman literally jumped. A glass slide flew from her hand and shattered on the floor.**

The Warrior frowned, _'Now I know why she was so jumpy.'_

**"Oh," said Dr. Neveeve in a breathy voice. "There goes yet another slide. Do not worry yourselves, it was free of contagion."**

"What would have happened if that did have contagion in it?" Lizzie asked.

Everyone winced, it would have been the worst possible thing ever.

**"Forgive me for startling you," said Vikus. "The outbreak of 'The Curse of the Warmbloods' has us all on edge. This is Doctor Neveeve, our foremost physician in the study of the plague. Neveeve, may I present Gregor the Overlander, his sister Boots, and their most honorable mother, Grace."**

**Neveeve's intense, pale-violet eyes darted over them. "Greetings. You cannot imagine how welcome a sight you are."**

**"They must be cleared for the meeting," said Vikus.**

**"Yes, yes, let us proceed with all haste," said Neveeve, pulling a pair of skintight gloves over her hands. She pricked each of their fingers with a needle and examined their blood under a microscope. With one glance, she pronounced his mom and Boots plague-free. But when the doctor peered at Gregor's slide, she frowned and adjusted the microscope several times.**

**"Just say it," Gregor thought. "I've got the plague. I know I do."**

"Wow, Gregor, way to be optimistic." Ripred rolled his eyes.

**To his relief, Neveeve lifted her head and gave them her first smile. "All clear."**

**Gregor let out his breath in a huff. "Now what?"**

**"Now if you sit, I will check your scalp for fleas," said Neveeve.**

**"Fleas? That boy doesn't have fleas," said his mother indignantly. Gregor couldn't help laughing. "We don't even have a pet."**

**"I am sorry, but it is essential we do this," said Vikus. "The fleas carry the plague from creature to creature. Neveeve's early recognition of this explains why we have only three cases in Regalia, and hundreds of rats have been stricken."**

The Warrior winced and looked at Ares and Howard, _'Two out three of the cases and Andromeda being the third._

**Suddenly, being checked for fleas wasn't so funny.**

**When they had all been pronounced flealess, Vikus invited them to rest before the meeting. **

**"It will be at least another hour before all those attending are tested. Come and refresh yourselves."**

**Vikus led them to a beautiful room. The walls were carved with soft, swirling patterns. Elegant furniture circled a roaring fireplace. There were even potted plants dripping with pink flowers. Underlanders appeared with trays of pretty food and a couple of musicians came in with stringed instruments and asked if Gregor's mom desired music. Gregor figured all the hoopla must have been for her benefit. He and Boots had never received this kind of attention.**

Gregor was actually glad that he didn't get this kind of attention, but that his mom did; she deserved it the most.

**"You didn't tell me it was this nice," said his mother.**

**"It's not, usually. I think somebody's trying to impress you...Mother of Our Light," said Gregor. She rolled her eyes but he could tell she was a little pleased.**

**Gregor looked at her sitting on the couch, still in her waitress uniform, and thought that if anyone deserved a little star treatment, if was his mom. He would have liked to stay himself — the music was unlike any he'd ever heard — but there was something he had to do.**

The Warrior shifted in his seat, this wasn't going to be pretty.

**"I'm going to run down to the bathroom," he told his mom.**

**Once he rounded the door, he did run, but not for the bathroom. He took the first flight of stairs and started down it, two steps at a time. The hospital was on one of the lower levels.**

"Why would you lie to me?" Grace asked, upset that he did.

"I-I thought you wouldn't let me see him if I told you." The Warrior stuttered out.

**That must be where they were keeping Ares.**

**Either he was getting better at navigating the palace, or he was just lucky, because he made it to the hospital quickly. The Underland doctors were surprised to see him, and even more surprised by his request.**

'_Probably thought I wouldn't want to see him in that condition and they were right.'_

**"Yes," said one doctor doubtfully. "It is possible to see him. But you will not be able to converse. He is quarantined behind thick walls of glass."**

**"Okay, well then, I'll just, you know, wave or whatever. I just want him to see I'm here," said Gregor. If Ripred was right and Ares was hanging on only because he thought Gregor was coming, then he had to make contact.**

**The doctor led him to a long corridor. "There. He is to the passage on your right. You do know...he is very ill."**

'_I didn't know how ill,' _The warrior sighed and Queen Luxa patted his arm, knowing what was coming.

**"I know," said Gregor. "I won't do anything to get him worked up or anything." He knew you were supposed to be quiet around people in hospitals. Before the doctor could change his mind, Gregor hurried down the corridor. He was suddenly excited at the prospect of seeing his friend after all these months. He wanted Ares to know that it would be okay now. He was here. A cure would be found. They would fly together again. His feet picked up speed, and he had to suppress the impulse to run. He whipped around the corner into another hall. On one side was a long glass wall.**

**Gregor looked through the glass and saw his bat.**

**Then he leaned over and threw up.**

Gregor winced and looked at his bat, Ares was glumly looking at the floor.

"I'm sure it isn't that bad." He said trying to lighten the mood, although it wasn't working. I mean, he threw up, that had to be really disgusting.

"I'll read next," Lizzie spoke up.

"Are you sure?" Grace asked, worried.

"Don't worry mom, I'm fine." Lizzie took the book and started reading. **"Chapter 7."**


	9. Chapter 9

Lizzie started reading,** "Chapter 7."**

**Gregor crouched over as his dinner spewed onto the stone floor, splattering into the glass wall and onto his boots. Another wave of nausea hit him and he retched again. And again.**

"That's disgusting Gregor." Lizzie said; while making a face, Luxa and Grace agreed with her.

**A cool hand touched the back of his neck, and a woman's sympathetic voice said, "Come, Overlander. Come with me." She led him to a nearby bathroom. He found himself gripping the sides of one of the toilets. A stream of continuous water ran through the basin, immediately washing away its contents. For a minute, Gregor thought he was done, but then the image of Ares filled his brain and he began vomiting again.**

"Seriously Gregor." This time even Queen Luxa looked a little sick.

**Ares had been lying stretched out on his back, his wings awkwardly extended. Large clumps of his glossy black fur were missing. In their place were purple bumps the size of cantaloupes. Several of the bumps had burst and were oozing blood and pus from the ruptures. The bat's tongue, which was coated in white, hung out the side of his mouth. His head was tilted back at an odd angle as he struggled for air. Gregor had never seen anything so frightening in his life.**

At this point Lizzie put down the book and ran to the bathroom, Gregor, Luxa, Grace and Howard didn't look far behind. Lizzie came back after a little while and continued the book, her voice shaking a little.

**He got rid of lunch and probably breakfast, too, and then he just heaved for a while, until nothing else came up. His body was bathed in sweat and his limbs were shaky. Finally, he pushed back from the toilet.**

**"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said. He felt embarrassed and ashamed of his reaction to seeing Ares.**

"Don't be," Howard spoke up, "People probably have that same reaction."

**"Do not be. Many people have the same response when they first see a plague victim. My husband, a great soldier, fainted dead away. Others face it stoically, then wake up screaming from nightmares. It is a very fearful thing," said the woman.**

Howard looked thoughtful as saying the same thing as the woman.

**"Ares didn't see me, did he?" asked Gregor. It would be awful if his bat had seen him throw up just from looking at him.**

"I would not be ashamed Gregor." Ares spoke up, speaking to Gregor.

**"No, he was asleep. Do not punish yourself with thoughts that you have wounded him," said the woman.**

**"Here, rinse your mouth." She pressed a stone cup into his hand and he rinsed and spat into the toilet.**

**"I'd be okay if I saw him now. It was just the shock," said Gregor.**

**"I know this," said the woman.**

**Gregor looked up and saw her face for the first time. There was something familiar about it but he was sure he didn't know her. "Are you a doctor here?"**

**"No, I am a visitor like yourself. I come from the Fount. My name is Susannah," said the woman.**

'_Ah, mother.' _Howard thought fondly.

**"Oh, you're Howard's mom," said Gregor. That's why she looked familiar. She was the mother of one of the guys who had gone with Gregor to find the Bane. That also made her Solovet's and Vikus's daughter. And Luxa's aunt. Was everyone here related, or what?**

Queen Luxa rolled her eyes, "No, not everyone is related."

**"Yes, my son speaks very highly of you," said Susannah. "He credits you with saving his life when he was on trial for treason."**

"I must thank you again Gregor." Howard insisted.

"It's fine, really." Gregor nonchalantly said. Grace looked on surprised and proud, her son had saved someone's life!

Ripred snorted a little, he just wanted to get these books over with and see what happens on the future that could be vital. Lizzie continued reading when they were done talking.

**"They should have given him a medal or something. He was amazing that whole trip," said Gregor.**

**"Thank you," said the woman. Then her eyes welled up with tears.**

**"Are you okay?" said Gregor. Had he said something to upset her?**

**"As well as one may be under the circumstances," she said. She dampened a towel in a basin and wiped Gregor's face with it. He didn't resist. Howard was one of five children. His mom had probably seen plenty of kids throw up.**

**"How is Howard? Is he in Regalia, too?" asked Gregor.**

The Warrior winced, wondering how Howard would take it.

**Susannah stared at him a moment. "Of course, you do not know. Yes, he is in Regalia. In fact, he is but a few paces from us."**

Howard, Gregor's and Luxa's faces paled, hoping it wasn't true.

**"He's in the hospital? He's not sick, is he?" The truth began to dawn on Gregor. "Oh, no, you don't mean he's...he doesn't have...?"**

**"The plague, yes," said Susannah. "But he has only recently been diagnosed. The flier, Andromeda, also. So we are very hopeful that you have arrived in time. That the cure may be found and they will not —" She bit her lip.**

Howard closed his eyes; Luxa leaned over and took his hand, squeezing it.

Howard looked at The Warrior and Queen Luxa, "I survive, r-right?"

They turned their heads to Lizzie, who took the hint and continued. They would have like to tell everybody, but they wanted them to figure it out for themselves.

**So Howard was infected. And Andromeda, too. She was the bat who was bonded to Mareth, the soldier who had led the quest to find the Bane. During that trip, Howard's bat, Pandora, had been stripped to the bone by a swarm of mites on an island. Then the mites had attacked Ares, who had barely escaped with his life. Howard had tended Ares's wounds. Andromeda had slept pressed up against him. No wonder Vikus had had Gregor's family's blood tested the second they landed in Regalia. Boots hadn't been in contact with Ares much, but it must be a miracle that Gregor's blood was clear.**

**"I can't believe I don't have it, too," he mumbled.**

**"Perhaps, as an Overlander, you have some immunity that Underlanders do not," said Susannah.**

The Warrior looked down, they were still warmbloods, it most likely would have gotten them at some point. Queen Luxa squeezed his arm as Lizzie continued reading.

**"Maybe," said Gregor. His mom was always really careful about them being up-to-date on their vaccinations. But he didn't think he'd had a shot for anything like what Ares had.**

**He took the damp towel and did his best to clean his boots. "Can I see them? All three of them? If I promise not to throw up?" said Gregor.**

Ripred snorted at that.

**"Of course. I am sure the sight of you will be as good as light itself," said Susannah.**

**She took Gregor back to the corridor lined with glass walls. Someone had already cleaned up the vomit, and the floor and glass were pristine.**

**Gregor braced himself and took another look at Ares. This time, all he felt was agony for what his bat — his friend — must be suffering. "Oh, geez," he said. "How long can he go on like that?"**

**"We do not know. But his strength is almost legendary," said Susannah.**

Ares looked up a little surprised, he had no idea his strength was almost legendary.

**Gregor nodded but he wondered if that was a good thing. What if it just meant that Ares would suffer longer than most creatures before he died?**

The Warrior winced at that, had his thoughts really been that morbid?

**A shudder ran down one of Ares's wings and he opened his eyes. His gaze was unfocused at first, but when it landed on Gregor the bat came to attention. Gregor mustered every ounce of strength he had and gave Ares what he hoped was an encouraging smile. He pressed his right hand onto the glass and saw Ares lift his left claw a few inches. It was as close as they could get to the locking of hand and claw that signified they were bonds.**

The air got a little quieter at that, sinking in that the bat with them right now could very well die in the near future. The Warrior looked down at his right and closed, he still had nightmares, though few, about Ares dyeing.

**Ares's eyes drifted shut and Susannah placed her hand on Gregor's arm. "Howard and Andromeda are not nearly so ill. Come," she said.**

**Gregor followed her farther down the corridor to another glass-enclosed room. Howard and Andromeda were sitting across from each other on the floor with a chessboard between them. Howard had only one visible purple bump about the size of a walnut on his neck. **

Howard rubbed his neck.

**Andromeda's gold-and-black-speckled coat appeared as healthy as ever. Susannah rapped on the glass and the two looked up. The expression on Howard's face when he saw them was so elated that Gregor didn't have to force his smile. Howard and Andromeda hurried to the wall. They couldn't hear each other through the thick glass, but Gregor was sure Howard said, "Gregor! You are here!"**

**"Yeah, I'm here," said Gregor.**

**Howard turned his head to listen to Andromeda for a moment, then mouthed to Gregor. "Boots?"**

**Gregor nodded. "Boots is here, too."**

**Just then, a door at the back of the room opened. A woman, swathed in protective clothing, entered carrying a tray of medicines. She ordered Howard and Andromeda into their beds.**

**"Is that Neveeve?" asked Gregor. "She tested my blood.**

**"Yes, she personally treats all the plague cases," said Susannah.**

Some people looked surprised that she was treating all the plague victims, while Queen Luxa and The Warrior glared at nothing in particular.

**"Wow. That's not a job for wimps," said Gregor. When he saw Susannah didn't understand, he said, "You've got to be brave to do that."**

**"Oh, yes. Neveeve is extremely dedicated," said Susannah. "She is determined that we will cure 'The Curse of the Warmbloods.'"**

**Howard stripped off his shirt and Gregor thought he should give his friends some privacy. And his mom was probably wondering where he was by now. He had to get back before she started getting worried.**

Grace shook her head, still a little disappointed that he had lied.

**As he made his way back through the hospital hallways, Gregor heard a familiar voice as he passed a room. "Overlander!"**

**Inside, he saw Mareth sitting up on a bed.**

Gregor smiled, at least Marth was alive.

**"Hey, Mareth!" said Gregor. "Man, it's good to see you!" He didn't add "alive" but that was what he was thinking. The last time he'd seen Mareth, the soldier had been unconscious, bleeding heavily from a bite a sea serpent had given his leg, and a long way from home.**

**Mareth grabbed something, swung off the side of the bed, and came to meet him. It was only then that Gregor saw that his injured leg had been amputated. All that remained was a few inches of his thigh.**

Gregor winced and grew upset; he had to get his leg cut off.

**"Your leg." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.**

**"Yes," said Mareth, leaning on his crutch. "I am working hard to be like Temp, and grow a new one."**

**"Yeah," said Gregor weakly. "That's a neat trick." The cockroach had lost two legs in a squid attack, but Ripred said he had grown them back in the Dead Land.**

Temp waved the two appendages that he had grown back as Boots giggled.

**"They could not save it. The infection spread too deep. But what need have I for a leg when I have Andromeda to ride upon?" said Mareth. As if he had suddenly remembered about his bat, Mareth passed a hand across his eyes.**

Ares and Aurora looked down, hoping that she would be all right.

**"She's going to be okay, Mareth," said Gregor. "The meeting's going to start any minute. There's got to be a cure. They'll find it."**

**"This is what I believe," said Mareth, pulling himself together. "They tested you? Your blood is clear?"**

**"I'm fine. So is Boots. And I guess you're okay, too, since you're not behind glass," said Gregor.**

**"Yes, somehow. It does not entirely make sense to me," said Mareth. "How some of us escaped it."**

**"I know. It's weird," said Gregor.**

**"Everyone was so afraid you would not come. But I knew you would," said Mareth.**

**"Of course I came. I mean, it's only for a few hours," said Gregor.**

The Warrior shook his head; he had been so naive back then.

**Mareth looked confused. "A few hours? Did Vikus tell you this?" he asked.**

**"Yeah, he said you guys just needed us for the meeting. Then we can go home," said Gregor. "Someone else is going to find the cure."**

**"Vikus said this? That you are not to go on a quest to find the cure with the gnawers? You are certain?" said Mareth.**

**"That's what he said." Gregor thought for a moment, and hesitated. "Well...no, I guess Vikus didn't tell me that himself. He sent Ripred to tell me," said Gregor. "But Ripred wouldn't lie about..."**

Ripred shook his head, of course he would lie! They needed the Overlander, so yes he would lie to get him to go to the Underland. He rolled his eyes as Gregor stared at him and Grace glared.

**A terrible realization came over Gregor. Yes, Ripred would. He would lie. If he thought it was the only way to get Gregor and Boots to the Underland, Ripred would lie in a second.**

"Course I would," Ripred said as everyone looked at him, "People were dyeing and sadly, you and Boots and the only people that can most likely save us."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a while before Gregor broke it.

"I'll read the book next," He took it from Lizzie and read, **"Chapter 8."**


	10. Chapter 10

Gregor took the book and read, **"CHAPTER 8."**

**Gregor hurried back up through the palace and ran into Vikus, his mom, and Boots outside the luxury room. He needed to talk to Vikus about this whole cure thing, but he couldn't do it in front of his mom. Maybe Mareth was wrong and Ripred was right. Maybe they were supposed to find the cure in a lab, not on some dangerous quest somewhere. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding.**

Ripred snorted, "Don't tell me you actually think it's a 'misunderstanding.'"

**"Where on earth have you been?" said his mother. "I thought you just went to the bathroom."**

**"I did but...I threw up," said Gregor. "And it took some time for my stomach to settle."**

**"You sick?" His mom's hand was instantly on his forehead.**

**"No, Mom, I feel fine now," said Gregor.**

**"Well, that stew was pretty rich. And then all this flying around. You never did have a strong stomach," she said. "He gets car sick on long trips, too," she told Vikus. "We have to travel with a plastic bag."**

Ripred snorted a little at that, as Gregor blushed.

**Okay, this was one of those mom-things Gregor had been worried about. His dad would never tell people how the warrior had to travel with a plastic bag. And she didn't even know what she was talking about because flying on bats didn't upset his stomach. Still, this was better than telling her about seeing Ares.**

**"I'm fine, Mom. So, is it time for the meeting?"**

**"Yes, let us proceed to the arena," said Vikus.**

**Nike and Euripedes, Vikus's big gray bat, flew them all to the oval-shaped arena used for sports events and military training. The playing field was covered in a soft, springy moss and seating for a large crowd topped the high walls. The arena was on the edge of Regalia and shut off from the city by towering, stone doors. Across the field from the doors were a few tunnels, some flush with the ground, others high in the air, which led away from the city.**

**When they flew into the arena, the stands were empty. Most of the creatures attending the meeting were down on the field. All three species — the bats, the cockroaches, and the rats — stood in their own clump. There was no interaction between them. It reminded Gregor of the beginning of a track meet, when the teams were assembled around the field warming up each in a different-colored jersey.**

**"Ready to make some new friends?" Gregor said to his mom, trying to sound positive.**

**She simply pressed her lips together in distaste as she stared down at the menagerie of giant Underland creatures. "Tell me again, who's on whose side?"**

**Gregor shook his head. "It's kind of complicated. The main thing is that most of the humans and rats hate each other. The bats are tight with the humans. The cockroaches just wish everybody would leave them alone. But they love Boots. So, if she shows up, they show up. The prophecy says they need everybody here to find the cure."**

"That is a somewhat, accurate description." Howard said, actually surprised Gregor explained that well in such few sentences.

**Nike and Euripedes dropped them on the field and joined a group of four bats, including Queen Athena, who perched on short, squat stone cylinders.**

**Ripred and two other rats sat about ten yards away. All three seemed preoccupied with trying to comb some kind of yellow powder out of their coats with their claws.**

**"What's that in their fur?" his mom asked Vikus, eyeing the rats with revulsion.**

"Er, sorry?" Grace said as Twitchtip and Ripred looked at her.

**"A powder to kill fleas. Just as a precaution. Their blood was clear of plague, but they all had fleas, and we cannot risk the insects entering the city," said Vikus.**

**Waiting patiently, a little off to one side, were a half-dozen roaches. The leader had a bent antenna.**

**"Temp!" Boots cried out. "I see Temp!" She wriggled out of Gregor's arms and ran for the roaches.**

Boots giggled and waved at Temp.

**"Boots!" His mother started after her but Gregor caught her arm and urgently spoke in her ear in a hushed voice.**

**"No, Mom, don't! That's Temp! She wouldn't be alive without him! The roaches adore her. Don't mess it up!" said Gregor.**

"Excuse me?" Grace looked at The Warrior in question.

"Um, sorry about that." He said bashfully.

**"Excuse me?" said his mother, raising her eyebrows.**

**"I mean, just be polite," said Gregor sheepishly. He never bossed his mom around that way at home. "Please."**

**His mother looked back at the roaches and hesitated. She flinched as Temp sat back on his hind legs, and Boots ran straight into his six-leg hug.**

Grace looked a little disturbed but not that much now, as Temp seemed nice . . . for a cockroach.

**"Hi, you! Hi, Temp! You waked up!" she said.**

**"Temp waked up, Temp did," said the roach.**

**Boots stepped back and surveyed him curiously. Then she began to count his legs. "One — two — three — four — five — six! All there!"**

**"Like you, my new legs, like you?" said Temp.**

**"Ye-es! You give Boots a ride? We go for a ride now?" said Boots.**

"Can I go for ride?" Boots looked at Temp, who dropped onto his belly. Boots climbed up as Temp zoomed around the room for a while, Boot laughing the entire time.

**Temp dropped to his belly, and Boots climbed right up on his back and they took off running around the field.**

**"Come on and meet the roaches. They're nice," said Gregor.**

**His mother gave him a look like he was insane but allowed him to lead her over to the insects. Temp ran up with Boots.**

**"See? This is Mama!" said Boots, sliding off Temp and running over to swing on her mom's hand.**

**The roaches seemed rattled by the news. Gregor could hear them whispering to one another. "Be she the swatter, be she? Be she the swatter?" They all bowed low to the ground.**

The Warrior started snickering, as was Lizzie having realized what they call her mom.

**"Welcome, Maker of the Princess and Most Fearsome Swatter," said Temp.**

Now Gregor, Lizzie and The Warrior were full blown laughing; Boots joined in to, not knowing what they were laughing about. Grace sighed and shook her head, having a small smile on her face.

**"What is it calling me?" Gregor's mom said to him.**

**"Um, I think he said 'Maker of the Princess and Most Fearsome Swatter,'" said Gregor.**

**"What's that mean?" said his mom.**

**"That you're Boots's mom and...let's face it, Mom, you swat a lot of roaches," said Gregor.**

**"Well, I'm not planning to swat these giant things!" said his mom, scowling at him.**

"You could try," The Warrior offered, Temp looked at him fearfully, "Or not."

**"Hey, I didn't make up the name!" said Gregor.**

**"All right, listen up, you roaches," said his mom.**

**The roaches all sank flatter on the ground, as if being swatted by his mom was inevitable. "Yes, Maker of the Princess and Most Fearsome Swatter," Temp could barely hiss out.**

There were a few laughs here.

**"From now on, you just call me Grace. Okay?" she said. Then she turned to the rest of the creatures in the arena. "Everybody here, just call me Grace!"**

**She took Boots's hand and stomped back across toward the bats, muttering, "Most Fearsome Swatter. Please."**

**While Vikus introduced his mother to the bats, Gregor crossed to Ripred. "Oh, look who's here! I guess your mommy let you come visit after all," said the rat.**

The Warrior rolled his eyes at Ripred.

**"You better not have lied to me about how long we have to stay, Ripred," said Gregor under his breath. "You better not be planning to take me and Boots on some road trip to find the cure."**

**"You've read the prophecy. All it says is to bring you from above," said Ripred.**

**"Now you've made an appearance, it's fine with me if you go home. Trust me, I could do without another quest with your chatty little sister and her six-legged friends."**

"Wow, I can just feel the love radiating off you." The Warrior replied sarcastically.

**"Is that what everybody thinks?" asked Gregor. "That I'm just here for the meeting?"**

**"Well, you'll have to ask around, won't you? I can hardly answer for what goes on in the crawlers' pea brains." Ripred dug at the powder behind his ear and called out, "Can we get this fiasco started, Vikus? Some of us have lives to live. However briefly."**

**"But where are the nibblers?" Vikus asked.**

**"I don't know. Lapblood and Mange were supposed to get word to them," said Ripred, indicating the other rats with two flicks of his tail.**

Twitchtip looked at him with surprise, as if saying 'you actually thought they would do that?'

**"Well, we didn't," snapped Lapblood. "Why would we?"**

**"She's right," said Mange. "We didn't spend all that effort driving the nibblers out of our land to join up with them now. If they die of the plague, good riddance."**

**"Who needs them, anyway?" said Lapblood. "The prophecy doesn't even mention the nibblers." She began to scratch frantically at her shoulder. "What is this poison? Does it kill the fleas or just make them extra hungry?!"**

**"You had very specific orders!" said Ripred, grinding his back into the moss to relieve the itching.**

**"Well, if you hadn't noticed, we don't take orders from you!" said Mange.**

**Ripred sprang to his feet and turned on the two rats. They crouched into defensive positions, waiting for his attack, but he only said, "We'll finish this discussion in the tunnels."**

"Wouldn't want to outright attack them in front of everybody, I would hate to imagine what they would think of me." Ripred sarcastically said, while smiling.

**"This is not ideal, but if the nibblers are not to be present, then we lack only Doctor Neveeve and Solovet," said Vikus. "Ah, here they are now."**

**A bat flew in from Regalia and Neveeve and Solovet climbed off its back.**

**Solovet called the meeting to order and asked Neveeve to speak about the plague. The doctor hoisted a large leather book off the back of the bat. She laid it on the moss and knelt before it. The book was only about a foot tall, but it was at least three feet wide and very thick. When Neveeve opened it, Gregor could hear the crackling of parchment.**

**"I have been scouring the old records in an attempt to find any similarity between this current plague and one in the past," said Neveeve. "Some two and a half centuries ago there was an epidemic markedly like 'The Curse of the Warmbloods.' Another just over eighty years ago. In both cases, a pestilence brought fever, painful breathing, and large violet buboes on the skin. Thousands died in the Underland."**

"That sounds delightful." Ripred said, rolling his eyes.

**"Lovely. Do they happen to mention a cure?" said Ripred.**

**Neveeve turned a page in the book and revealed an ink drawing of a plant that had distinctive star-shaped leaves. "This plant. It is called starshade. Only a single field of it exists."**

**"I've never seen it," said Lapblood. "It must grow in the Overland."**

**"No, according to the records, it grows in the same place from which the plague first emerged," said Neveeve.**

**"'In the cradle find the cure,'" said Vikus, quoting from the prophecy.**

**"On the island with the mites?" asked Gregor. He didn't see how they'd ever get the cure from there. The mites would devour them in seconds.**

_'It better not be on that island,' _Grace thought.

**"No, Gregor. That is a new island and, as Neveeve said, the plague has been cropping up for centuries. The mites may have carried the plague to the island, but it is not the cradle," said Vikus.**

**"So, where is it?" said Mange.**

**"It seems the cradle lies on the floor of the valley in...the Vineyard of Eyes," said Neveeve.**

The air became tense as everyone but Grace, Gregor and Lizzie looked on with fear, even Ripred was tense.

"You're joking," Howard said.

"We may as well be dead." Ripred added.

"What's the Vineyard of Eyes?" Gregor asked, nobody responded so he continued reading

**There was dead silence. Finally, Lapblood spoke, "We may as well just slit our throats now, as enter the Vineyard."**

**"Yet you had no trouble driving the nibblers into it," said Queen Athena.**

"You did what?" Grace gasped out, why would they drive them out to a place like that?

**"The nibblers had the whole of the Underland to choose from," said Mange.**

**"Where? The Dead Land? The Fire Points?" retorted Solovet.**

**"You're a fine one to talk, Solovet, given the current circumstances," said Lapblood.**

**"Please!" said Vikus, cutting off their bickering.**

**"Remember all of our lives are now at stake. This plant, Neveeve, it grows nowhere else?"**

**"They attempted to transplant it to the fields of Regalia, but it died almost immediately. We have no choice but to harvest great quantities of it from the Vineyard and distill it into a medicine."**

**"You want us to go into the Vineyard and help you find this cure, but what guarantee do we have that we'll ever see it?" said Lapblood. "We gnawers starve now! At your hand! The plague runs like wildfire through our tunnels! Today we learn you have yellow powder to stop the fleas that spread it! But do you send it?"**

**"You attacked us," said Solovet in a steely voice. "And now whimper when you must suffer the consequences."**

"She's going to regret saying that." Luxa said, just knowing that wasn't the right thing to say.

**"Whimper?" snarled Lapblood. She and Mange crouched to attack. Solovet's hand flew to the hilt of her sword.**

**Gregor didn't understand exactly what was going on, but he could tell things were about to get ugly.**

**Ripred stepped between the seething rats and Solovet.**

**"Tides turn, Solovet," said Ripred quietly. "Remember this moment when your own pups cry with hunger and the plague stills their hearts. Even now, your grandson lies behind glass in the hospital."**

Howard flinched, not wanting to be reminded of that.

**"And what of my granddaughter, Luxa? Where lies she, Ripred?" spat out Solovet.**

Luxa winced and Gregor put his hand on her shoulder and patted it; Queen Luxa winced as well and The Warrior put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

**"I don't know! But you must set it aside, Solovet, or go back and tell your people to make their graves. At this moment, we have great mutual need!" said Ripred.**

**Gregor never knew how Solovet would have responded, because at that moment the horns began to blow. The warning came from the tunnels leading away from Regalia. A dozen humans on bats appeared and headed across the arena for the tunnels.**

**"What are they blowing that for? No rats are invading," said Ripred in a puzzled tone.**

**"There must be some threat, or they would not give the signal," said Solovet.**

**"But who would be attacking Regalia now?" said Vikus.**

**The answer came out of the tunnels. It was a bat with a bright orange coat that Gregor had never seen before. Something was wrong with it — its wings beat erratically and it was careening around in a bizarre fashion.**

The Warrior winced knowing what was going to happen.

**"It is Icarus! But what ails him?" said Nike. As Icarus swooped down over them, Gregor saw the purple bumps oozing fresh blood into his orange fur, the white tongue wagging from his mouth, the delirious look in his eyes.**

**"It's the plague!" he cried. "He looks just like Ares does!"**

**Icarus twisted in the air, his wings fluttering out of sync, and then lost control. A general cry of alarm went up as the bat plummeted straight down at them.**

Everyone looked alarmed as Gregor read this, hoping that no one else gets the plague.

Luxa cleared her throat, "I guess I'll read next, **Chapter 9**."


	11. Chapter 11

Luxa read, "**CHAPTER 9**."

**As Icarus hit the ground, Gregor could hear the crack as the bones in his neck broke. He died instantly. There was no movement except the leaking of blood from the purple bumps.**

Luxa started looking green, as was Lizzie, Grace, Howard and Gregor.

**"Do not touch him!" warned Neveeve.**

"Yes, because we all want to touch a bat that looks like that." Ripred replied sarcastically.

**But this was unnecessary since almost everybody was instinctively scrambling away from the bat's ravaged body. Gregor backed into a roach, lost his footing, and fell over it onto his rear end. Two bats collided on takeoff. Only his mother, who was within a few feet of the ghastly creature when it landed, hadn't moved. **

'_No, please don't let Boots get infected.' _Grace thought.

**She was clutching Boots in her arms, rooted to the ground in terror. Gregor got to his feet and ran for her.**

**"Torch the body!" ordered Solovet.**

**"No!" shouted Ripred, but three torches had already left the hands of the soldiers above. "No!" Ripred was literally gnashing his teeth in frustration.**

"Why? Wouldn't that help." Howard asked.

**"Get out of here! Everyone! Run!" he screamed.**

**When the torches hit Icarus, Gregor understood Ripred's frantic reaction. The flames had only rested on the fur a moment when a wave of small, black specks began to abandon the dead bat's body.**

Grace and Lizzie gasped.

**"Fleas!" cried Vikus. "Get you gone!"**

**Gregor grabbed Boots, caught his mother's arm, and pulled her onto the back of the nearest bat, who happened to be Queen Athena. Probably you weren't supposed to hop on a queen without asking permission, but this was no time for polite small talk. As they rose into the air, Gregor could see the rats and cockroaches disappearing into the tunnels leading to the Underland. All the humans on the ground had been picked up by bats and were airborne.**

Everyone seemed to let out a breath at that, knowing everyone had been picked up.

**The fleas were hopping madly away from the burning bat.**

**"To the royal box!" called Vikus. "No one enters the city!"**

**Queen Athena swerved in the air and carried them toward a large, curved section of seats high in the arena. It reminded Gregor of the boxes where the rich people sat in Yankee Stadium. This must be where the royal family watched the sporting events.**

"It is," Luxa said.

**As soon as they landed, Neveeve made them spread out. "Put as much distance as you can between one another." **

Howard nodded at that, that was the best thing to do.

**Gregor moved away from his mother and Queen Athena, but didn't feel like he could set Boots down. She'd just run off, maybe to the railing of the box, and they were up really high.**

Grace winced at that image.

**His mom started to follow Gregor and Boots but Neveeve waved her back. "No! Move into a space by yourself!"**

**The doctor opened a pouch at her belt and pulled out what looked like a fancy perfume bottle. It had one of those bulbs on the side so you could spray it. She closed her eyes, pointed the nozzle at herself, and squeezed the bulb. Puffs of yellow powder settled on her skin and clothing. It looked like the same stuff the rats had been scratching from their coats. The flea powder.**

"It's a good thing she had that with her." Gregor said.

**Neveeve moved rapidly around the box spraying everyone. "Rub it into your skin, your hair. Cover every inch of your being," she instructed.**

**When she got to Gregor, he covered Boots's eyes with his hands while he shut his own. He could feel the powder coating his skin. It had a sharp, bitter smell. **

**As Neveeve moved on to his mother, Boots sneezed and gave him a surprised look. "You yellow," she said.**

**"You, too," Gregor said, working the powder through her hair. "And what letter does yellow begin with?"**

"Yellow!" Boots shouted.

**"Y!" Boots said. "Y is for yellow!"**

**"And what else?" said Gregor, trying to distract her as he rubbed the stuff over her skin.**

**"Y is for yo-yo! Y is for yak!" said Boots. She had never seen a yak, except in her ****_ABC_**** book. Neither had Gregor, for that matter. Probably no one would have ever even heard of a yak if it hadn't been about the only animal that began with a Y.**

Queen Luxa snorted at that.

**In a matter of minutes, the entire party of six bats and six humans had been treated with the pesticide.**

**"I think it is safe now to gather," said Neveeve.**

**Everyone came together in the center of the box. Below on the field, the charred body of the bat lay in a puddle of water. The fire had been extinguished.**

**"Bat sick. Bat needs juice," said Boots. Whenever she had a cold the first thing she got was a cup of juice.**

**"He's asleep now. He can have some when he wakes up," said Gregor. He could never manage to Boots someone had died.**

Gregor shook his head, he never wanted to explain that to Boots.

**"Apple juice." Boots squatted down and began to draw squiggles in the fine coat of yellow powder that covered the floor.**

**"Give orders to disinfect the entire field," Solovet called out to a guard who hovered on his bat near the box. "Wait!" The guard stayed as she turned to the doctor. "Will that be sufficient, Neveeve?"**

**"They must also spray the tunnels that lead away from the arena," said Neveeve. "The fleas will not be able to enter Regalia with the stone doors shut, nor jump so high as the seats. But some may already have escaped down the tunnels and into the rest of the Underland. Any who guard there must be recalled and their skin examined for bites."**

**"Do as she says," Solovet told the guard.**

**"What of the gnawers and the crawlers?" asked Vikus.**

**"No flea could penetrate the coat of poison on the gnawers, and they will not bite the crawlers. They are all quite safe," said Neveeve.**

**"And those of us here assembled?" said Vikus.**

**"If any flea reached us, which is doubtful, it is now dead. We must each be stripped and checked for bites by physicians in Regalia," said Neveeve.**

**"We are not..." choked out Gregor's mother. "We are never returning to Regalia!"**

"But we need to check if we fleas," said Gregor, "What if that spreads to the Overland."

**"Please, Grace, I know this to be very unexpected and distressing —" began Vikus.**

**"We're going home! We came to your meeting! That's all you said we had to do! So you tell that bat to take us home now!" said his mother as she pointed wildly at Nike.**

"Vikus is going to pick up on that." Ripred said.

**"Who told you this? That you were only expected for the meeting?" asked Vikus with concern.**

**"Ripred," said Gregor. "He said we just had to come for a couple of hours. That you didn't need us to find the cure. Then he sent a swarm of rats to scare us out of the apartment."**

**Gregor could tell by the look Vikus exchanged with Solovet that this was the first they had heard of any of this.**

**"I am afraid he was not forthcoming," said Vikus.**

**"What do you mean?" asked Gregor's mom.**

"It means I lied." Ripred replied.

**"He means Ripred lied," said Solovet.**

**"He may in fact have thought their presence was unnecessary for the —" said Vikus weakly.**

**"He lied!" repeated Solovet. "Do not defend him. He knows perfectly well there will be no quest for the cure without the Overlanders! He obviously thought there was no other means of bringing them below. I would have done the same, Vikus, if you would not have."**

**Gregor bet she would have, too. Solovet would not have cared what Gregor or his family wanted. Not at Regalia's expense.**

'_Yes, she would.' _Both Howard and Luxa thought.

**"We will not force them to stay, Solovet!" said Vikus. Gregor had never seen him so angry. "They have been brought here under false pretenses. We will not force them to stay!"**

**Gregor's mother clutched Vikus's arm as if it were a lifeline. "You'll send us home now, then? We can leave?"**

**"No!" said Solovet.**

**"Yes!" said Vikus. "Nike! Prepare to take the Overlanders home!"**

**"Guards!" barked Solovet.**

**Gregor was bewildered at the power struggle playing out before them. He had never seen Vikus and Solovet fight like this, and it rattled him. Who could actually make this decision? What would happen if his family tried to leave? What was he supposed to do?**

**"Wait!" Gregor took his mom's hand. "Look, Mom, I've been to see Ares. He's really bad. He's dying, Mom. I can't leave him like this. So, how about you take Boots back and I stay and try to help? Okay? You take Boots and Lizzie and Grandma to Virginia. Dad will wait for me to come back up. Then we'll come to Virginia, too."**

"You'd do that?" Grace asked, knowing how much the Underland meant to him.

Gregor sighed and nodded his head, to save Ares, he would do that.

**"That might be an acceptable compromise," said Vikus, eyeing his wife.**

**"We could put it to the council," said Solovet, although she did not sound convinced.**

**"I can't leave you down here, Gregor," said his mom. "I'm sorry about your friend. I really am. But I can't leave you here."**

**"Look, Mom, I don't think all three of us are going to be allowed out of here," said Gregor. "Please, take Boots and go home." He squeezed her hand tightly. It took him only a few seconds to register that something was wrong.**

The Warrior winced, this was not going to end well.

**His mom was talking back to him now, but the words weren't reaching his brain. He moved his fingers over the skin on the back of her hand. No, he hadn't imagined it. It was there.**

Lizzie caught on and started tearing up.

**"Gregor, are you listening to me?" pleaded his mom.**

**He wasn't. He was trying to make sense of what his fingers were telling him. And trying to wish it away. But he couldn't.**

**Gregor slowly lifted his mom's hand into the light of a nearby torch and wiped off the yellow powder. A small red bite was swelling up on her skin.**

Grace looked on astonished and looked at The Warrior, his face was solemn. She didn't die did she?!

"Why don't we go on a lunch break?" Queen Luxa said softly. Everyone nodded and walked over to the kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

Everyone walked into the kitchen in a somber mood; even Ripred seemed to keep his mouth shut. Queen Luxa made everybody sandwiches, as they all sat down at the table in silence. Grace had been holding on to her three children in silence, not wanting them to leave her arms. The Warrior looked at Grace, wondering if she was going to ask; if she did he knew the obvious reply.

Queen Luxa put a platter of different sandwiches in the middle of the table. She went and sat next to The Warrior as he reached for her hand, and intertwined their fingers under the table.

The silence was broken by Grace asking, "A-am I alive?"

Gregor sighed and was about to reply, when he was interrupted by a knock. Everyone looked towards the door as it opened slowly and a boy who looked to be fourteen stepped in the room. He looked about 5'4" and was shifting nervously from foot to foot. He had black hair that was curled around his face and lime green eyes. He was pale; he looked like an Overlander except for the pale skin.

"Hazard!" Queen Luxa exclaimed in joy as she ran up to hug him.

The boy, Hazard, laughed. "Hey, Luxa!"

The Warrior chuckled, "So, joining us?"

Hazard nodded, "Yup, I'm coming up soon."

The Warrior got up and gave Hazard a hug with a pat on the back. "Good to see you."

Everyone watched as they interacted, wondering who this person was that they knew so well.

"Oh! Everyone, this is Hazard." Queen Luxa introduced.

Hazard sheepishly rubbed his cheek, "It's kind of weird, seeing you all so young."

There were scattered chuckles, but it became awkward after that.

"Why don't we all continue reading?" Queen Luxa asked, breaking the silence.

Everyone nodded, agreeing as Hazard was sneaking glances at Lizzie and turning a bright red. They went back to the living room and Hazard sat in between The Warrior and Queen Luxa. Howard eyed that a bit, but shrugged and picked up the book.

"**Part 2: The Jungle."**

* * *

**This was the last chap written by allfandomsunite. The rest is written by me.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright guys, I'm REALLY sorry about this. I know that I haven't posted any chapters that are mine, but something REALLY BIG has popped up in my life recently, so if you would like to adopt this story, please PM me. Again, I'm really sorry about this, but if I kept this story, and tried to continue it, it probably wouldn't be updated for about a year and a half.**


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